Resolutions...

I got the idea for this blog when reading Rachel’s application form she has to submit before she can audition at LIPA. It asked her for 4 things she would like to improve if she got the chance to train there…it’s a tough question but a truly vital one for anyone who really wants to make a success in acting wither for it’s own sake or because they want to make a living in it. It occurred to me that looking at what’s next in your development can be a good idea, simply so you get the most out of the Youth Theatre experience. Even if you are actually intending to be a doctor, or a mechanic or a zoo keeper in your real life (ie the one you lead outside Yew Tree) it’s still a good thing to have your eyes on what your creative possibilities might be. The reason it’s good is that nothing beats that sense of satisfaction and achievement when you know you’ve done better than you ever have before – even if that’s just in a workshop exercise or in a game. Also it makes me reeeaalllllyyy happy to see you develop and grow…I continually bore people with the success stories I see on a week to week basis. So all this leads me nicely on to the point of my blog, which is to encourage you to make a Yew Tree New Years Resolution!!!!
You see what I did there…
The good thing about a Yew Tree New Years resolution, should you choose to make one, is that if you break it, it’s not the end of it. You can just try and implement it in the next week or the next session or the next project or in the next game…there are hundreds you could choose from…
(This is where it all gets a little Phineas and Ferb)
Like maybe…
Getting better at a game you normally don’t excel in
Contributing to reflective discussions
Contributing more ideas in devising processes
Listening to other people’s ideas in devising processes
Learning lines quicker
Developing better focus
Developing your ability to see things from other people’s perspective
Becoming more sensitive
Writing a blog
Indulging in people watching to create characters
Trying your hand at script writing
Improving your backstage discipline
Being physically braver
Attempting a greater range of roles
Achieving a greater sense of truth in your acting
Trying genre’s of theatre you’re not comfortable with
Questioning yourself more to create the best possible performance
Remembering when your actors that we are human beings not human doings
Being more responsive
Developing your vocal skills – your projection, your ability to breath, your management of tension
Improving your emotional/physical/mental stamina
Listening, really listening, like really, really listening…
Employing the theories of practitioners that resonate with you
Asking more questions
Expecting more from yourself
Learning from your fellow actors
Seriously the list could go on and on and on and on…
Pick one or make up your own and give it a go…if you’re really brave tell me what it is and I can help you achieve it…either by message or if you’re uber bravestick it up on the face book wall…I’d be fascinated to know…
Whatever you decide I wish present, past and future members of Yew Tree a truly happy New Year and I can’t wait to enjoy the brilliance that will be 2011 with you…you make my year, every year and it’s a privilege to have the opportunity to work with you…
Sarah