What's happening at YTYT

I’m certain that of the many Yew Tree histories submitted as part of these anniversary celebrations, mine is a little unusual. I didn’t start young, nor am I from an especially theatrical background (I am, somehow, my own fault), nor did I feel particularly called to the stage. Rather, I was 17 and in need of something constructive to do. Turned out to be quite good fun, so I stuck around for a good 18 months before swanning off to uni. Yet probably the distinguishing feature of my Yew Tree experience is that a few years and one global pandemic later, being at a similarly loose end, I popped back in. I’ve been volunteering with Sarah and the youth theatre now for about twice as long as I ever attended in the first place. This has been in any number of capacities: running warm-up games, assistant directing, occasionally fetching coffee, now by contributing to this zine. And it makes sense to me to predicate my contribution on the unusual perspective I might have, having been on both sid...

Youth theatre has a hugely important part to play in amateur theatre and as NODA North East Youth Co-ordinator and District 13 representative I am doubly blessed to have Yew Tree Youth Theatre (YTYT) as part of the district. In addition to performance skills young people can gain so many benefits from being involved in youth theatre including building confidence, communication skills, creativity, teamwork, and emotional development.  YTYT provides a safe and supportive environment for self-expression, social interaction, and personal growth, which will ultimately boost self-esteem and well-being.  Through watching the YTYT productions I can see how youth theatre helps young people overcome stage fright, develop self-assurance, and believe in their own abilities.  Improving communication skills is achieved through participating in activities and it also enhances verbal and non-verbal communication, including clear articulation, active listening, and effective exp...

I’m not an actor. I’m a university lecturer. My experience demonstrates that being in a theatre group doesn’t mean you have to work in theatre in the future. I’d like to explain how the skills that I developed from being part of YTYT 20 years ago have been transformative and shaped who I am today. Communication  Performance is a form of communication. As a lecturer and leader in higher education, I “perform” regularly as have to speak publicly and articulate my message clearly. One of my strong beliefs as an educator is that it is my job to make my audience understand my point; it’s not the audience’s job to decipher my meaning. I also bring a human approach to my lecturers by being expressive when I speak and actively listening to my students. Before being a lecturer, I taught English abroad for several years which meant that I was often communicating across language barriers. The use of non-verbal and paralinguistic features of communication (body language, gestures, facial expre...

It was either a Thursday or a Friday night, depending on the year. That detail may seem small, but for me, it defined an entire chapter of my life. Fridays were for Gold Company. Thursdays, Black Company. Both were part of Yew Tree Youth Theatre, a place that helped shape the person I became.   I joined at 15, unsure of myself, full of awkward energy and curiosity. At first, it was just something to do after school or work, a creative outlet, a chance to meet new people. But it quickly became more than that. So much more. Yew Tree didn’t just teach me how to act. It taught me how to exist. How to show up. How to be seen.   Gold Company on Friday nights was where it all began. Those early years were full of discovery. We laughed a lot, we stumbled through scenes, we figured out how to speak from our stomachs instead of our throats. It was raw, chaotic, joyful. We were kids, playing at storytelling, but there was so much honesty in it. It was a space where we could try, fail, gr...

I have loved every minute of doing Connections.  From the first day or rehearsal when we created a timeline of what we thought the important events of the show were to the final bow on the main stage at Cast it was emotional, uplifting and inspiring . One of the key moments that will stay with me is Connection week which gave us the opportunity to explore our characters in more depth and get to know each other better as we spent time together outside of rehearsals as a cast. For me this was the first experience of working with a group who came together for a single show as opposed to being part of an established company.  We had to quickly learn each other's ways of working to create a successful cast. Another memorable moment was the trip to Bridlington with puppetry and stage combat workshops on the seafront followed by a switched up rehearsal where we all played a different character and a game of That’s Out on the beach then fish and chips before we headed home. Engaging i...

Mia and the Fish. Where to start? I didn’t choose this play as one of my options in the summer last year, but I am so glad that we were given the opportunity to explore this incredible story. For the audition process, I had no clue which character I even wanted to be. Usually, I like to read the script and pick the character that I relate to immediately, making the whole process of becoming the character so much easier. However, with this script I didn’t see myself in any of the characters the first-time round, and didn’t know who to audition for. I knew this was going to be my last year of Connections, and I wanted to go out with some sort of a bang.   So, I picked Mia. And that’s who I was given. It felt daunting at first, but I was made more confident by Sarah saying that the roles we were given were the best for the play. Over time, that became clear to everyone I think – we all grew into our characters in such a fantastic way, and it ultimately rewarded us with a magical show....