GET WRAPPED UP IN A HEALING JOURNEY OF KINK AND BONDAGE AT THIS YEAR’S HOLLYWOOD FRINGE - KNOT ONE TO MISS!

Hold Me Down

Jackie Yangyuen presents
Hold Me Down
A One-Woman Musical

Debuting at this year’s Hollywood Fringe is an autobiographical musical about a woman who finds healing through bondage and kink. Throughout Hold Me Down, Jackie Yangyuen performs original music, multiple characters, and captivating choreography against a backdrop of her ropes to emotional freedom.

Comedic, reflective, kinky, raw – Hold Me Down threads through multiple strands of Jackie’s relationships with her family, friends, and guides to the world of BDSM. Jackie embodies her rambling, gambling-addicted mother, her irreverent best friend, her increasingly estranged older brother, and her supportive-from-a-distance father with a mixture of empathy and caricature. Jackie takes on their points of view as well as her own as she laughs, sings, and struggles through their ever-constricting expectations upon her. As her sense of self begins to fray, Jackie finds solace in the comforting embrace of ropes and suspension. Held down in the embrace of tightly secured knots, Jackie lets go of the pressure to hold herself together. She finally lets herself be who she always was: adventurous, queer, kinky, enough.

Hold Me Down is a story about radical authenticity, and untangling trauma in ways that many people wouldn’t think of as healing. It’s a story about one woman’s journey outside of cultural acceptability to find her own personal acceptance. It is a story about reclaiming life’s most formative experiences, even (and especially) when they hurt. Hold Me Down is Jackie’s real, lived story, and its significance reaches far and wide to anyone on their own journey from pain to bliss.

Jackie acts and sings her story in an accessible, welcoming way that the audience will resonate with as she takes them through themes of family conflict, curiosity, exploration, and self-discovery. Hold Me Down is perfect for the diverse and curious Fringe audience. Demystifying the taboo of bondage is sure to intrigue those who are not familiar with the kink community. Who knew embracing your kinky side could bring them closer to self-actualization? More BDSM-savvy audience members may find themselves nodding with both familiarity and surprise as Jackie recounts her own unique entry into kink.

Jackie is sharing this performance just as much for her as for her audience. She is healing in real time, laying bare her grief and levity as she balances anger and compassion, flaws, and is actively in a state of redefining and reframing these stories as she lets in acceptance of where this journey brought her, and what she still has yet to find.

Outside of the Hollywood Fringe Festival, Jackie is a queer, nonbinary (she/they) Asian American storyteller whose diverse array of creative outlets includes songwriting, singing, novel writing, voice acting, and in her free time, cake baking and gouache painting. Through her multifaceted expressions, Jackie strives to illuminate the journey of self-discovery and empowerment, inviting others to embrace their own identities. By sharing her narrative, Jackie fosters connections, allowing listeners to find resonance in the overlapping experiences of her life. By day, she’s a left-brained radar systems engineer; by night, she transforms into the vibrant pop singer-songwriter known as jly. Her artistic journey also includes leading the punk pop band augustleft and lending her voice to compelling villains in immersive audio dramas. Jackie’s artistry is a mosaic of intersecting identities, where every piece is carefully crafted to reflect the depth of her heart and soul.

Listings Information

Venue: Asylum @ Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre (SFS Theatre mainstage)
5636 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038
Tickets: $15 (regular), $20 (ticket + bondage plushie), $22 (ticket + bondage earrings)

Dates:
Sun, June 9, 5:30 PM (Preview Show)
Sat, June 15, 7:30 PM
Mon, June 17, 8:30 PM
Sat, June 22, 10:00 PM (Plus an additional 30 min Q&A segment)
Sun, June 30, 2:30 PM

Website: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/10490

Additional Information:

Content warning: 18+, rape/sexual assault, verbal abuse, gambling addiction, mental health (depression, suicide), bondage and fetish

Note that there are two staircases leading up to the theater, and there is not an elevator. This is not a wheelchair accessible venue.

For further information or to request a media ticket, please contact Jackie Yangyuen at [email protected] or (909) 233-9534. You can also reach Jackie on Instagram @jlymusic