Posts

Showing posts from July, 2009
Last night was the premier of the play “Celebrity” it was performed by the Black Company at the beautiful Nostell Priory country park to an audience of about 70. It was in fact a very lovely evening…I got to talk to people I haven’t seen in a while… then I got to listen to them laugh at jokes I’d written or comedy dreamed up by the youth theatre, shaped into a script by me and then brought to life by the performers. I also got to watch some of my favourite actors perform something that they had found both challenging and enjoyable and something they had invested a considerable amount of creative effort in… All this after a week of being part of a company that worked, rested and played together with such equality, such support and such respect that they were an absolute pleasure to be with. This week demonstrated exactly what Yew Tree is about, that with serious intentions to create something of value, a disciplined approach and a good deal of creativity there is no need whatsoever t
Another repeat performance...by Aaron...in reflective mood...committed member of the gold and black companies and cast member of Celebrity... So another Nostell has passed us, and possibly the best one so far in my opinion. There have been so many good times to remember from this Nostell week, things that I don't think I will be able to forget. When I first started Yew Tree 2 years ago the Nostell performance was the first one I did with the youth theatre and looking back I can see how much I’ve grown, for lack of a better word, as well as others at Yew Tree. It's good to see how talented people you work with are, especially having worked with them and others throughout my time at Yew Tree and while some people are moving on for their own needs you can't help but feel saddened by it because we're losing a part of Yew Tree. Everyone who has been a part of Yew Tree has brought a certain something to the performances, the sessions and the rehearsals. I suppose that the bes
Jonny Hopwood...ladies and gentlemen...making a repeat performance...enjoy... Coming home from East15 and i’m thinking...’i’m soooo skint, i’m defo gonna be spending the next few weeks feeling sorry for myself, watching rubbish tv and eating pot noodles’... however, I couldn’t have been more wrong... the Ashes are brilliant and I’ve had a variety of microwave meals sooo. Nooo, i’m kidding. Yew Tree has provided soooooo many events and performances over the last week or so. The Sh Sh Sh Shhhakespeare day at Clarke Hall was absolutely sensational. The 15 Minute Hamlets were juuust genius. Both of them, having such a different feel yet both remaining to be sensational. Andd ooooh, followed by Mid-Summer Nights Dream. What a pleasure to watch. For such a young cast to achieve such a goal was amazing. Great success!! The Calton group’s performance of Don’t Assume Anything completely blew me away. The bar was raised. The piece was so slick, everything was so well done, everyone was extremely
This week I could have written about the stunning performances and atmosphere of Open Mic Night 4…the great achievements of Don’t Assume Anything……my optimism about Maybe This Time…the anticipation of Celebrity or the sheer amount of words I clocked up in the last fortnight…but I’m not going to write about any of those as it goes…(I know I know…almost as bad as sneaking in an extra best in best and worst…) So then my theme for the week is…back stage etiquette/discipline/good practice…whatever your preferred term of reference and actually within those terms I’m concerned with all things related to the off stage world of theatre performance… which often covers a multitude of sins… It becomes increasingly obvious to me that some of the crucial ingredients of a great performance are rooted in what actors are doing when they aren’t on stage…Don’t get me wrong…I know actors can, and frequently do, get away with passable performances when they’ve had hardly any sleep, haven’t eaten properly a
Ashleigh Waters...marvelous member of the Sapphire and Gold Companies has been on work experience this week and written this blog Hi Yew Tree people, well this week I have been on work experience so I have been a part of the side of Yew Tree I don’t usually get to see and it’s been brill. The Aim Higher workshops have been so good and the people have been lovely (Charlotte well done on the performances). Also, I saw the 15 Minute Hamlets by the Black Company and the modern sonnets by the young writers group at the Shakespeare festival (amazing comes to mind). I was at Open Mic Night (wow), and I have been to Sapphire Youth Theatre, Gold Youth Theatre and visited Eastmoor Youth Theatre – Ruby (fun). I have been at the performance of Silver Company’s ‘Snow White’ (you were fabulous, so much done in 3 weeks) and the first major performance by the Green Company (thumbs up guys) and every single group is so talented and they work together fabulously. Well done to all actors and directors
This weeks blog is by Charlotte Scott of the Gold Company and who has been on work experience with us...she's become an important member of the team... So all of my year group do work experience at the same time which initially means everyone panics at once. At the end of a week with Yew Tree I find out that I couldn't really describe what it was properly before. You can't actually see the whole company when you only come to a Saturday morning Youth Theatre. However at the end of the week, I can honestly say that I have really enjoyed working with the company. I have been to, this week; three aim higher workshops in primary schools with year six. Each one using the same script and directed the same but each one different. In all of classes there was always going to be one or two children that didn't want to participate at the start, but what was nice to see was that by the time it came to the last performance in front of their parents that everyone of the children, in a
This weekend has been a festival of words, words, words…and not just any words but those of Shakespeare. Performers as young as 7 and as old as 22 have performed some of Shakespeare’s most famous characters and speeches. Clarke Hall was the stunning venue where Macbeth’s witches, Hamlet plus entourage and the lovers, fairies and mechanicals from The Dream were seen and modern day sonnets and the seven ages of man soliloquy were heard. The actors did indeed speak the speeches trippingly on the tongue and with more competence than they themselves ever thought possible at the start of their journey. With their words they’ve made people laugh, cry and think and allowed some of their audience to experience Shakespeare for the first time or in completely new ways. This audience incidentally that included parents, siblings, youth theatre colleagues and past members of the youth theatre who joined us to revel in Shakespeare’s rich legacy… Gemma before the first performance of Midsummer Nigh
Third blog of the week...how much are we spoiling our followers this week?...written by none other than Jess Hopwood...her second blog in fact...so top marks to Jess... and anyone who hasn't written one yet feel utterly ashamed So, I’ve spent the past week doing my work experience with Yew Tree and the first thought that comes into my head when I think back is how much I’ve genuinely enjoyed it. I remember one car journey a few weeks back, when Rob was telling me how much work is put into the running of the Yew Tree Company as a whole; but I still had no real idea about what went on outside the workshops. After spending a morning in the office, taking part in an interview and even just seeing the ‘things to do’ list, I never quite realised the amazing level of work that needs to be done (and is brilliantly done by the Yew Tree team, goes without saying). Is it a tiring job? Thinking back to the end of the week, the word ‘exhausted’ comes to mind. Saying that, the amount of energy a
Over the last fortnight, in the name of my final doctorate assignment of this year, I have been thinking about the youth theatre’s internet profile. It’s actually a much more fascinating topic than I realised before I began to look in detail and I thought I’d share some of my “preliminary findings” with you… The questionnaire showed up a few patterns…the first one is the gratifying popularity of the forum… our oldest and most individual format…this made me smile because I love the forum…I feel it’s a genuinely good way of keeping in touch in between sessions and I like to think it’s a balance of idle chatter with like minded, creative individuals…and a good place to get information and ask questions. We’re hoping to give it a face lift in the near future so watch this space (or rather the space the forum is in.) Other things the questionnaire identified was that our facebook fan page was pretty popular… especially for the photo’s… and that the least known about/visited was the bebo, m
This is the first of two guest blogs this weeks as I've press ganged the Work Experience youth theatre members into doing it...this ones by Jack Denham...member of the Crimson group... Midsummer nights dream is coming up soon for the Shakespeare festival. I’m not usually a worrier but I think the fact that I don’t know ALL of my lines with a week left is a cause for concern. I guess it’s a good thing that I’m with yew tree for two weeks for work experience. So far it’s been great. I’ve found out about what goes on behind the scenes of Yew-tree, got to know the brilliant staff better, and found out that I’m better at working with children than I thought I was. So that’s all been great, and it’s given me more motivation to learn my lines, especially made easier with the help of a pretty cool colleague. Peace out guys… Yew-tree prevails.