What's happening at YTYT

Christmas eve eh?   How’s everyone doing?   Presents all wrapped?   Food prepared?   Destination where you’re going to spend the festivities reached?   Film viewing timetable agreed? The Yew Tree Office is officially closed.   It has been since Thursday, although it’s 8.30 on Christmas Eve morning and I’ve changed the profile picture on the facebook page, uploaded the final jingle, written my 99 words, collated all the entries I’ve got so far ready to add any last minute ones and then make my decision and in a minute, when I have written this, I’m going to write some of my play…so not as closed as you’d imagine it might be… This year I’ve been one of those irritating people who, when people asked me what I wanted for Christmas, responded that I didn’t want anything…thing is I genuinely didn’t…(obviously when pressed I came up with something) and I’m going to explain why in this blog… This has been a tough year for so many people, the world we live in is changi

Emma took the responsibility of the Christmas Blog this year Hello from the Fretwell abode.  It’s all getting very festive around here: we’ve managed to clean and shop and I’ve just got myself settled in front of my laptop, with a mince pie and Michael Bublé’s Christmas album. This is far from the norm on a Saturday morning - usually it’s all systems go at Thornes Park (St Swithuns for Mili, who attends Purple company)….   And now I’m faced with the task of a Christmas blog, I really don’t know what to talk about. I could ramble on and on about how brilliant Connections was at the beginning of this year. We got a lovely script with Shooting Truth, the Ensemble set it off beautifully and it was just so much fun to perform. Then Kendal was perfect, from performing to playing That’s Out and making a wall of fielders to catch the ball (think it was captured on camera, and the pictures can be found on Facebook somewhere). I’m certain that the memory of Merv dancing will never leave me…. Y

I’m proper tired.    Proper end of term, going down with a cold, need a holiday tired and despite the fact that I could have slept in I got up at half seven anyway.   I’m blaming the fact that the last two weeks have held just too much.   Too much in the way of experiences, sights, revelations, performances, challenges to be met, logistics to be tackled, conversations, highs, act of generosity, laughter, risks to be managed, anticipation, frustration and last but not least too many wonderful, wonderful Yew Tree moments… I’ve decided my head is going to need a full couple of Yew Tree down time weeks to process all of this (and write a play of course.) I am going to look properly through the photo’s instead of flicking through them.   To reflect fully on the development of each group and individual I work with over this last year.   I’m going to spend time enjoying the sense of achievement I feel with everything we’ve done and to start finalising plans for 2012.   So this s

James Budenburg with his annual games sesh blog I wrote this blog last year, how time flies. Except I probably did it much earlier in the morning as I’m growing lazier in my old age.  Anywho The games session had so much to live up thanks to last year’s hilarity and even with the lack of ratchet screwdriver; I think we’d all agree it did more than live up to its expectations. I was expecting to be writing about the games now, as normally I tackle my blogging in chronological order, but the creative task has to come first… so the brief was a jingle. Short, sweet, Christmassy and Yew T ree related. Looking at the casting I was anticipating finished products of a crazy and ridiculous nature, but what we came up with, I just don’t think there is a word in the English dictionary to describe it. BUT, I believe they are being put up one by one in the lead up to Christmas and if you manage to get through the entirety of MC Murphin’s escapade without laughing, then credit to you, you have Sc

Sam has been generous and blogged for the second week in row As we break up for Christmas I ponder to myself. What would a week be like without Yew Tree, I daresay that I shall miss Sapphire despite the food, festivities and, if you will excuse my ridiculous use of alliteration that for some reason I just can’t help myself to include, fun I shall find myself missing the hilarity, happiness and hold on a minute there I go again with my stylistic devices. I have done with alliteration perhaps imagery can be slotted in... I find that Yew Tree is a light at the end of the tunnel that we all call Monday. You could say it is a field sewn with a million seeds, each one ready to burst into its own unique flower. It is a jewellery box of precious gems that are different every time it is opened. Looking at these descriptions, it is clear that this is all very much true. Have you ever been to a Yew Tree session that has been the same as the last? Each one has its’ own character, personality alm

This blog could just ramble for a good strong amount of time about how wonderful you all are…The last weeks has been tiring to say the least but so very rewarding and left me “chock full” of nice things and happiness to share with you. However over the last week I’ve had a really strong sense of what I wanted to talk to you about in this blog…it’s been such a strong theme of the weeks leading up to the shows and the performances themselves…because to me the last few weeks have been all about distance travelled… Yew Tree has never been about who is better than someone else, partly because it’s entirely against our culture and values, and partly because it’s a ridiculously subjective measure anyway.   It’s about rising to the next challenge, it’s about making discoveries, it’s about gradually gaining confidence, self belief, control of your body and voice, opening up, being bold enough to try things, to stretch your creative muscles, being brave enough to invest all you

This brilliant blog is by Mel... 'Twas the night before Christmas with Yew Tree and everyone was scared,  Even though lines were learnt and everyone prepared. With over 140 people that made up our cast,   And everyone excited to perform at last. With Jack and the Beanstalk with giants so tall,  And 'Twas the night before Christmas with a mouse so small. Purple with mime so clear and perfected,  To crimson with bullies where lives were affected. Gold with Sleeping Beauty so stunning and resolute,  To green with the Grinch that stole Christmas as he climbed down the chute.   Last of all was robin hood, with the bravest and boldest of men,  With sword fights and dances, from the poor to the merry men. No better than we could of asked for an audience such as ours,  Who sat there taking everything in and playing their part for hours. So thank you yew tree for making our Christmas, we are very grateful - i ts true,  To sing and shout and act about and that's all because

As she puts away her evil fairyness Natalie has blogged for us... I figured that today was the perfect day to man up and write a blog for two reasons. A.) It’s been a year since I’ve done one and B.) This week has been an absolutely amazing week for Yew Tree and therefore there is just loads to talk about. So this week has been the week of the Yew Tree Christmas Spectacular and it certainly has been a spectacle. Every single one of the performances I have witnessed over the last few days has been fabulous, all unique performances which have two main things in common, performers who share a passion for drama and a whole load of Christmas spirit. From the hilarity of Jack and The Beanstalk and The Grinch to the absolutely adorableness of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, all seven plays were fantastic. Just before I sign out of this blog, I would just like to mention the performance of Sleeping Beauty we did in Denby Dale. The audience was made up

Sam Winder...door player extraordinaire ladies and Gentlemen... As I sit here writing this on a cold morning, writing with only one hand due to the bandage wrapped around the other, I look back and am amazed at everything Yew Tree YT has achieved this week.   I wish to congratulate everyone who took part in the performances, we saw a multitude of characters and stories which were all equally entertaining: From the Grinch - which I have to say was rather a rhyming bundle of hilarity. Well done to the Grinch with your hops, skips and dramatic... and dramatic... Grinchness. To Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, a musical delight that I couldn’t help but sing along to. And of course the performance of one of my all time favourite Christmas poems... T’was the night before Christmas. From Jack and the Beanstalk, which I daresay was the best of the whole night... but there again I was in it.   To Sleeping Beauty, a tale already weaved with a thread of... of... epic-ness. And with added fairies

I'm always gladdened that people that go off to University keep in touch...Hannah is a lovely example of this happy thing... Thursday didn’t get off to the best of starts: I missed my lecture and then there was a torrential downpour and I had to sit in 3 awkwardly silent seminars. Not a good day. And then it got to 3 pm and uni was over for the week and I could get on with feeling all Christmassy, and more importantly get myself to the Yew Tree Christmas Shows to see Purple, Sapphire, Gold, Orange and Black perform!! It all kicked off with Purple doing Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer through mime. And it was brilliant; the little boy who was miming to the song was just too cool in his sparkly waistcoat. And then Sapphire did Jack and the Beanstalk with the world’s most ineffectual mum. My favourite part of that was definitely the magic beans playing the bean game. And I did fear for Jake’s life when he threw himself across the stage. He sooo nearly fell off! And then Gold

Today I am excited about chorus!   I know…that’s an odd thing to be excited about but I am…Why?   Because it can be really exciting…if you needed proof of this you only needed to have been there to see me jumping up and down at the end of Gold’s rehearsal this morning trying to get the energy needed in the final scene…the fairies of Sleeping Beauty are so close to being where they need to be but they could be amazing…and I want them to be amazing… Being in a chorus should be adrenaline charged, it should literally be buzzing…there should be a mutual feeding frenzy of energy, bouncing off each other, working as a unit, picking up on cues…creating tension when the story needs tension, drama when it needs drama, vitality when it needs vitality…you see where this is going?   You’ll know if you’re doing it right because it will feel as good as only true team work can feel. And so beans, market crowd, party goers, fairies, merry men, villagers, storytellers and all my other

Ash with a perceptive insight into our artwalk adventures this week: On Wednesday, Yew Tree was at the Hepworth gallery taking part in the Wakefield Artwalk. The evening was comprised of live Nu Folk music and original poetry, which was written and performed from scratch hourly. Essentially, we gathered the thoughts and opinions of the Hepworth and the artwork inside it from visitors that evening, and then used it create poetry, which was then performed back to the people who contributed. Im not exactly the most extrovert person so at first I found the concept of approaching members of the public a little daunting, but after a few minutes it was really enjoyable. I loved being able to have honest and intellectual conversations with people and everyone had such diverse and contrasting opinions. it was really interesting listening to what people had to say about the Hepworth, what they liked or disliked, which pieces stood out to them and why and what they think of art in general. Peop