3 plays...at once...oh yes...

-

Three scripts all at the same time – a little ambitious – maybe – definitely…however it appears it’s doable…maybe…definitely…Aladdin is finished apart from the inevitable glitches that will make themselves known at the read through…so that’s one…Vision is almost there…I’m just waiting to see if any of the cast has a flash of inspiration today before I sign it over to the actors for line learning…so that’s two…Once that is done I’m left with Cinderella to finish off…it’s all a bit dicey at the moment, she’s just left the ball in a hurry so I need to focus on her as soon as possible so she can live happily ever after with her Prince…and then that will be three…

The only way that such prolific writing is possible is due to the input of the companies the plays are for.  I couldn’t come up with all the ideas needed to make three plays interesting on my own but because I’m working with such creative generous actors I don’t need to.  I’m inspired by the original ideas you all come up with in workshops…even the ridiculous things…who wouldn’t be inspired by Ash’s dancing…then you encourage me to keep writing with your online interest…asking to look at drafts…letting me know your favourite moments, expressing how much you’re enjoying reading them and equally importantly helping me polish and perfect by being my proof readers – spotting the inaccuracies and contradictions, the spelling mistakes and the wrongly allocated lines. 

Last night as soon as I came back to the theatre I spent an hour on the two that are almost complete…where did I get the motivation?  From the numerous messages I’d got while I was out asking for copies of the play and querying things that weren’t clear or suggesting improvements…it’s utterly invaluable.  Jess brilliantly spotting an inconsistency in Vision that would have irritated me immensely if we hadn’t realised before we went into rehearsals, Michael was asking for the most recent copies of Aladdin and Vision late into the evening so he could see where we were up to are just two examples…All of this interest, commitment and input makes the implausible task of writing three plays at once a distinct possibility.

I hope you find the process as interesting and creatively fulfilling as I do…and if you’re not one of the company that has previously got involved with this aspect of YTYT maybe next time eh?  The more voices and input the richer the final product…

*whispers* As a final note…there is however the distinct possibility that it might be having an adverse response…I spent all last night dreaming about having to solve an impossible writing conundrum for a script that didn’t make any sense but that needed to be finished urgently…ah well I’ll try not to worry too much about that… 


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