Alice now safely ensconced at Manchester Met to begin her actor training reflected on her 13 years at YTYT before she went...
This blog has taken me so long to try and form in my head because there are so many things I want to say about something that has been in my life since I was 7 years old.
So, in no particular order...
Vision / Sparkleshark / Twas the Night Before Christmas / A Vampire Story / Shooting Truth / Post 40 / The Myth / Journey to X / Fragments / Celebrity / Invisible / Cinderella / Miners Memorial Service - Selby / Alien / Young Roots /Halloween at Nostel - Amelia’s Story / Spirts of the Landscape / Robin Hood / Sleeping Beauty / Shakespeare festival 1 / Shakespeare Festival 2 / Classics at Clarke Hall / The musicians / A Christmas Carol / The Heights / Maybe this time / Can’t Stand up for Falling down / The Worn Out Shoes / Sandal Castle / Blackout / Duel / Princess Blankets / Lost Happy Endings / The Comedy of Errors / The Chrysalids / After Juliet / Responses at the Hepworth / Responses 2 / Miners Memorial Service - Wakefield / Play in a Day / James and the Giant Peach (my first ever script from Drury Lane days :))
...and these are the ones that I still have the scripts for
If I remember rightly we also did a star wars type radio play? We rehearsed but never performed Teechers which Gemma and I still haven’t got over ha. When I was at Sapphire (before it was called Sapphire) we did a Christmas Play that was like a ‘This morning’ type programme and I ‘cooked’ mince pies. We also performed our own fairytales...I think? Get yourself on youtube for a laugh at those. Oh and I also went to writers back in the day.
Anyyyywayyyy that reminiscing probably got boring a while ago.
The weird thing about me starting the blog like that is that the final performance is not what Yew Tree is about - it’s the reason people join the youth theatre but it’s only one of the reasons that they stay.
I know I haven’t travelled very far or ever considered joining another Youth Theatre but I’m pretty sure there’s very little else quite like what Oz, Sarah, Gemma, Danny and the cohort of volunteers offer. I’ve typed and deleted about 5 paragraphs now trying to pinpoint the brilliance of Yew Tree and everything it has given me and it’s soooooooo hard to do it justice.
So let me have one more go and hopefully it’ll make some sense (even if it will be cheesy)...
My first ever session at Yew Tree apparently pretty much consisted of me sitting on my Mum’s knee and crying. Luckily I came back.
I have grown up with Yew Tree and in these, I suppose, childhood years where people make so many decisions about how they think and behave and the way they want to live their life I have been so lucky to have Yew Tree as a guide because it has made me a better person.
It encourages people to be brave and feel empowered and trust each other and themselves. It feeds young people’s thirst to learn new things and ignites imaginations. It’s such a safe place to try something you wouldn’t normally contemplate doing. It’s so much fun. It constantly encourages people to be reflective and evaluative. It has provided hundreds of opportunities to watch and take part in. Sometimes black company arrive being all stressy about grown up/boring/money/revision/university type things so we have a little complain in best and worst and 20 minutes later we’re all shouting COCONUTS loudly or pretending to be ninjas (don’t laugh...it’s very serious) and to create a space where young adults can drop everything and have a go at being responsibility free again is invaluable. Well...it costs £3.50.
I am also so grateful for spending time at the youth theatre just as a member – because, now, having volunteered I have a real insight into the hard work, preparation; talent and dedication that Sarah, Danny and Gemma make look so effortless.
I have made friends for life at ‘drama club’ and I’m gonna keep coming back cos everywhere else plays splat and not cowboys and Indians...
I want to come and see plays and think ‘that’s amazing!!! It wasn’t as good when I was there’...but I bet it was – just when you’re in the middle of it you take for granted how special this thing is that you’re part of.
I’m leaving to go to Drama School and I have no idea if this is what I’d be going to do if i hadn’t joined the youth theatre– it’s a scary thought but I honestly don’t know. I also dont’ know what i’d do as an alternative ha. I know I couldn’t have done all the auditions on my own without the support of Sarah and the ‘What’s next’ group. And I know I wouldn’t have had the skills to if i hadn’t had so much experience (see list above baahahahahaha)
So Thank you Oz, Sarah, Gemma and Danny.
and everyone who’s ever let me win a game.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This blog has taken me so long to try and form in my head because there are so many things I want to say about something that has been in my life since I was 7 years old.
So, in no particular order...
Vision / Sparkleshark / Twas the Night Before Christmas / A Vampire Story / Shooting Truth / Post 40 / The Myth / Journey to X / Fragments / Celebrity / Invisible / Cinderella / Miners Memorial Service - Selby / Alien / Young Roots /Halloween at Nostel - Amelia’s Story / Spirts of the Landscape / Robin Hood / Sleeping Beauty / Shakespeare festival 1 / Shakespeare Festival 2 / Classics at Clarke Hall / The musicians / A Christmas Carol / The Heights / Maybe this time / Can’t Stand up for Falling down / The Worn Out Shoes / Sandal Castle / Blackout / Duel / Princess Blankets / Lost Happy Endings / The Comedy of Errors / The Chrysalids / After Juliet / Responses at the Hepworth / Responses 2 / Miners Memorial Service - Wakefield / Play in a Day / James and the Giant Peach (my first ever script from Drury Lane days :))
...and these are the ones that I still have the scripts for
If I remember rightly we also did a star wars type radio play? We rehearsed but never performed Teechers which Gemma and I still haven’t got over ha. When I was at Sapphire (before it was called Sapphire) we did a Christmas Play that was like a ‘This morning’ type programme and I ‘cooked’ mince pies. We also performed our own fairytales...I think? Get yourself on youtube for a laugh at those. Oh and I also went to writers back in the day.
Anyyyywayyyy that reminiscing probably got boring a while ago.
The weird thing about me starting the blog like that is that the final performance is not what Yew Tree is about - it’s the reason people join the youth theatre but it’s only one of the reasons that they stay.
I know I haven’t travelled very far or ever considered joining another Youth Theatre but I’m pretty sure there’s very little else quite like what Oz, Sarah, Gemma, Danny and the cohort of volunteers offer. I’ve typed and deleted about 5 paragraphs now trying to pinpoint the brilliance of Yew Tree and everything it has given me and it’s soooooooo hard to do it justice.
So let me have one more go and hopefully it’ll make some sense (even if it will be cheesy)...
My first ever session at Yew Tree apparently pretty much consisted of me sitting on my Mum’s knee and crying. Luckily I came back.
I have grown up with Yew Tree and in these, I suppose, childhood years where people make so many decisions about how they think and behave and the way they want to live their life I have been so lucky to have Yew Tree as a guide because it has made me a better person.
It encourages people to be brave and feel empowered and trust each other and themselves. It feeds young people’s thirst to learn new things and ignites imaginations. It’s such a safe place to try something you wouldn’t normally contemplate doing. It’s so much fun. It constantly encourages people to be reflective and evaluative. It has provided hundreds of opportunities to watch and take part in. Sometimes black company arrive being all stressy about grown up/boring/money/revision/university type things so we have a little complain in best and worst and 20 minutes later we’re all shouting COCONUTS loudly or pretending to be ninjas (don’t laugh...it’s very serious) and to create a space where young adults can drop everything and have a go at being responsibility free again is invaluable. Well...it costs £3.50.
I am also so grateful for spending time at the youth theatre just as a member – because, now, having volunteered I have a real insight into the hard work, preparation; talent and dedication that Sarah, Danny and Gemma make look so effortless.
I have made friends for life at ‘drama club’ and I’m gonna keep coming back cos everywhere else plays splat and not cowboys and Indians...
I want to come and see plays and think ‘that’s amazing!!! It wasn’t as good when I was there’...but I bet it was – just when you’re in the middle of it you take for granted how special this thing is that you’re part of.
I’m leaving to go to Drama School and I have no idea if this is what I’d be going to do if i hadn’t joined the youth theatre– it’s a scary thought but I honestly don’t know. I also dont’ know what i’d do as an alternative ha. I know I couldn’t have done all the auditions on my own without the support of Sarah and the ‘What’s next’ group. And I know I wouldn’t have had the skills to if i hadn’t had so much experience (see list above baahahahahaha)
So Thank you Oz, Sarah, Gemma and Danny.
and everyone who’s ever let me win a game.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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