What's happening at YTYT

There is no doubt that this week at Yew Tree has been remarkable to say the least.   Writing and rehearsing our Summer at Nostell project is always intense but this year it seemed to rack up another gear.   Partly this was to do with having the most ridiculously busy June on record and then a July that didn’t really slow down either and partly because this year our play was inspired by real events.   The guest bloggers describe the performance and the process of “Party at the End of the World” so well I don’t need to report on that so instead what follows is a few of my observations regarding some of the most remarkable things about the production… First remarkable thing.   The joy I had in watching members of the cast - some newly graduated into Black Company, some seasoned members and some graduates back from their first or second year of university - join together to make a cohesive cast.   This is no easy feat and this challenge was compounded further by th

Hannah has also reviewed Party at the End of the World  Hello! Hannah from Sapphire here! Last time I did a blog, it was the weekend after the Christmas shows, so it's definitely been a while! This time, I'm blogging about the phenomenal performance of "The Party at the End of the World" at Nostell on Friday night. Lottie and I jumped extremely happily at the opportunity to go (our Friday nights aren't usually very interesting) and brought the cousin Ryan along too, to show him why we're so happy on Monday nights. To set the scene a little for everyone, the play is set in July 1914, when the threat of War was dark and looming. The play follows Rowland Winn and his guests on the final day (yes, the man spent 3 days celebrating, his parents are mad if you ask me) of his 21st Birthday Celebration. Rowland is the son of the house at Nostell Priory, and with the audience being sat on the grass in front of the outstanding building, it gave a real sense of real

Lottie has reviewed Party at the End of the World  Last week was the first time I’ve ever done a blog for Yew Tree and now here I am again, doing another one the very next week! This time though, I’m not going to be talking about our wonderful, and slightly mad, Sapphire sessions, I’m going to be talking about The Party at the End of the World! As usual, me and Hannah jumped at any chance we got to have our little fill of Yew Tree after finishing for the summer already and coming to Nostell Priory to watch The Party at the End of the World was our perfect opportunity. To give you a little background information, the play is set in 1914 and follows Rowland Winn on the last day of his 21st birthday party (yes, he had multiple days for the occasion!). We got to meet a range of different characters, from the groundkeeper’s son to Chorus girls from London to ambitious maids! All of these characters were taken on by different members of Yew Tree and all of them were absolutely spectacular!

First guest blog - Hannah one of the cast of Party at the End of the World I’ve woken up this morning with Nostell withdrawal. I didn’t know what to do with myself; I’ve exhausted tumblr, visited my grandad and cleaned bathrooms I’ve been that bored. I was going to re-watch Downton Abbey to try and stay in the Nostell spirit but series 2 arrived before series 1 so I couldn’t. So mad with Amazon. And I’ve got withdrawal because Nostell was so good, The Party at the End of the World was great and it’s always good to spend a week in the company of brilliant people. And aside from Tuesday when it was torrentially raining the weather was really good as well. Actually the weather was a bit TOO hot sometimes and I ended up with a headache on Friday from squinting because it was so bright (I promise I’d drunk loads of water and it wasn’t dehydration). The week got off to a good start as we walked through the script. It was really nice to see and hear it because I wasn’t

We’re in transition at the moment at YTYT.   July is always like that…this means that we’re experiencing lots of firsts and lasts. It makes everything feel a little like we’re on a rollercoaster as there is so much to be proud of, so many achievements to reflect on with a sense of fulfilment but there is also the shadow of loss clouding the landscape… In terms of the firsts…over the last couple of weeks we have had a number of new starters and people moving into new companies, which is always lovely to see. We’ve also had people experiencing aspects of Yew Tree for the first time – Hannah, Lottie and Holly came to Sapphire in September last year so they’d no idea about how we had created our Aladdin script.   This year they’ve been able to enjoy and contribute to the process of devising and writing that goes into producing the Sapphire Company Christmas show.   A process Lottie has guest blogged about this week in yes, you guessed it, her first YTYT blog.   Other f

Lottie with her first blog! I  feel that after attending Sapphire for just about 9 months, now would probably be a good time to have my say on the blog. So, hi I’m Lottie and that’s about as a good as my introduction gets… Onto what we did this week!   This year for the Christmas show, Sapphire are doing Rumplestiltskin; a play full of laughter, drama and ridiculousness, of course. This week was our first opportunity to read the script the whole way through and after our warm up games we got straight to it! Despite having already read it myself a few times, it was still wonderful. As we swapped who read what part each scene, it was great to see all the devising we had done coming together and the characters we had created flourishing. I think I speak for all of us when I say that I can’t wait to start rehearsing when we get back after the summer!   All happy stuff aside, at the end of our session we had to say goodbye to Danny and James who have helped us all immensely; everyone wis

There are many lovely things about my job as artistic director of Yew Tree Youth Theatre and one of them is writing…I do a lot of it…this week I finished Rumplestiltskin on Tuesday for the Sapphire Christmas show and I write this on blog on a very short break from my work on, “The Party at the End of the World.” This play will be performed on the 26 th of July at Nostell Priory by some of the oldest members of the Youth Theatre and some visiting graduates.   As soon as that is done I start work on a retelling of “The Nutcracker,” to be performed in February. Despite the intense pressure of extremely tight deadlines I still don’t take for granted the joy and privilege of being able to stand in a place I may never get to physically occupy and in the shoes of someone I may never get to meet…now in the case of that being a strange little man that weaves straw into gold so he can justify taking someone’s baby that’s not so poignant.   However my current work is showing

Beth blogs about her second week of Work Experience "Where do I start?" Is the question I always ask myself when writing a blog. However, it has only been the past two weeks that I have realised the extent of what Yew Tree do. Never have I been so busy! If any of you are unaware, I have been on work experience with Yew Tree and it's obvious that I've had the best placement (not bias at all). Where other students in my year will have made cups of tea, swept up hair and maybe filed the paperwork that was left on the table for several months, I have been fortunate enough to work with different groups of creative and, indeed, very talented people. So here's just a bit of an insight into what I've been up to in the Youth Theatre for the past week (I would tell you about both weeks but then I may as well write a book)... On Monday I was with Sapphire, Devising new scenes for what's going to be the Christmas Spectacular: 'Rumplestiltsnkin.' But before w

This weekend has been all about casting…I had our Summer play for Nostell Priory “The Party at the End of the World,” to cast this morning.   Then tomorrow myself, Sarah and Victoria will be casting for the West Yorkshire Theatre Dance Centre’s production of, “The Nutcracker” and my YTYT companies are starting to think about casting for our Christmas plays, “A Christmas Carol,” “Rumplestiltskin,” and “The Elves and the Shoemaker.”   It’s all go!   But then when is it not. Casting is a strange business.   It’s always surrounded by excitement – new projects inspire a new set of dreams and ambitions in actors and to be honest in directors too.   The idea of embarking on a new set of characters, a new story, new challenges sparks energy, hope and aspirations.   It’s great to be around.   I enjoy the process of visualizing (and whatever the hearing version of that is) my scripts being brought to life by the actors of the company.   I equally enjoy the buzz from the actors. Howe

Our second is by the wonderful composer Cheryl Camm Off I've popped every Tuesday for the last 18 months from my riverside, countryside, fireside haven of a house in Northumberland into the urban heart of Yorkshire to spin my yarns of musical exploration with the youngsters of Lupset. Sometimes there's been flooding on the line, or excessive snow, or a trip to New Zealand to prevent me going there, but otherwise off I have indeed popped. Sometimes I've driven with my jingly-jangly musical paraphernalia in the back, but mostly I've travelled on the trains. I love the trains. Let me tell you about my Tuesday trains. The first, from Alnmouth (highlight: nearby beloved viaduct striding out towards the sea) or Morpeth (highlight: Victorian letter box waiting expectantly for over 100 years) is usually small and barely warrants the effort of getting out work to think about. Once Newcastle is attained thought can begin in earnest. Trains are so glorious for nourishin

 Our first guest blog is by Phil Paramore otherwise known as Mel's Dad! “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Albert Einstein In my language – everyone, without exception deserves a fair opportunity to learn, develop and make something of themselves.  That is everyone’s right.  In return their responsibility is to demonstrate positive attitude and enthusiasm, so that they drive themselves to succeed. Food for thought……..