-
This week's guest blogger is Jamie Mottershaw longstanding member of Yew Tree and current member of the 17+ group and Saturday morning Thornes group. Jamie will be performing at the West Yorkshire Playhouse on Saturday the 23rd of May as a cast member of tHe HeigHts

So, Yew Tree has been in the local paper again for “tHe HeigHts” and towards the end of the article there is a quote from the National Connections assessor that caught my eye and has stuck in my mind. It was the description of the cast being a “powerful ensemble”. It has been mentioned a few times before, but having it publicised as something that makes Yew Tree stand out from the rest is something that has made me think.
You go to Yew Tree and you are surrounded by friends, not just people you act with. This does not just apply to the Connections cast. It happens at every group throughout Yew Tree. For example, at the Saturday morning session last week we did a warm up where, in pairs, one person had to be led around the room with their eyes closed then be left alone and have a new mystery partner lead them (repeat, repeat). The point was that you learn to trust every person in the group because you do not know who is responsible for you. If this were to be done with another youth theatre of such a size I do not think it would have been accomplished so easily and so quickly, but because there are no divides in the group everybody is treated with the same level of friendship and respect.
This is, in my eyes, what makes every group, rehearsal and performance with Yew tree so tight and such a pleasure to be included in.

Love you all
Peace Out xx

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chloe's Leavers Blog - finally :)

-
  Please excuse how this was written, I do a very silly drama school course, and I haven’t had to write more than my name in 9 months. I’m sat in my silly dorm bed writing me this on my DSA laptop (a win for the mentally ill girlies), realising how utterly bad my ability to Words has become. Anyway.. Leaving YTYT was one of the oddest experiences of my life, and yet, I don’t remember it at all. I’d spent the last few years, waving off some of my closest friends as they went on to conquer their dreams, in a tearful circle, yet all I have is a fuzzy memory and a video saved in an instagram highlight. I’d sell a kidney to try and bring back that experience, to do my final show unclouded by new medication and intrusive thoughts, but as that isn’t possible, I thought I’d finally write my leavers blog, even if it is a year late. I started Yew Tree in 2017, as a way to explore drama outside of the agonising GCSE setting, and across the years, it became a lifeline for me, providing confidence,
Read more

Arwen's Leavers blog

-
I made a start writing this leaver’s blog when I was on a bloody needed holiday over a month ago, on the glorious Isle of Islay in Scotland. I’m re-writing it now, because I think it was naff to be honest. And I’m not in the same mindset as I was then. Also I might have had a few too many drams of whisky whilst writing it there, so there’s that. A line I’ll keep from it however is: “How am I meant to do justice and summarise in my writing the enormity of an impact that Yewtree has had on me these last 5-ish years?” How can I articulate all the skills that I've learnt and developed? The experiences I’ve had? There’s so much, where and what do I start on? So I’ll do just that, and put some of the skills I’ve learnt into use: “You can’t be a creative, a critic, and an editor at the same time” But in fairness - I don’t think I could share and articulate all those things. And I’m not sure that I want to, they’re for me. I can’t put that expectation on myself. The past year I’ve felt as
Read more

Celebrating the past in the present...

-
  Next year Yew Tree Youth Theatre will be 30 years old.   We haven’t quite decided how we will celebrate - any suggestions would be gratefully received. No doubt there will be some nostalgic perambulating down memory lane and some haphazard but joyous celebrating of three decades of creativity we have shared.   Some variation of those two themes would feel fitting. This blog however is something different. This blog is a celebration of the present of those who attended YTYT in the past. Alumni, graduates, previous members – I can never seem to find the right term – but whatever word is chosen I know for sure they are part of the fabric of the youth theatre and I’m grateful to have known all of them, mainly because I have learnt so much from them.   I also can’t put a number on how many people have spent significant time with YTYT over the last 29 years.   I know we started with a group of 8 and now have about 80 members, I know at our peak just before COVID we had about 130 young pe
Read more