Beyond what we would wish for...

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This week my week at Yew Tree has contained many delights…at Sapphire we did improvisation joyously.  I don’t need to say much more about that as we have twin blogs that will do it much more justice than I could, (although I will just congratulate the new starters who jumped in with both feet and acquitted themselves wonderfully well, I was more than impressed.)  Then Jade – our newest company took some giant steps towards maturity with a couple of new starters and what I believe to be their best session yet.  On Thursday the first Orange session of the year took place again with new starters in amongst the very lovely faces of the usual crowd.  The colour given to Orange is more than apt as they are the sunshiniest group, in the same way that Sapphire are full of sparkle but utterly classy, so to be back playing and making with them was a treat.  Other companies presented me with just as much inspiration as the range of specialist subjects covered expanded to include Shakespeare and physical theatre.  As you can see it was another week as rich as we have come to expect from YTYT.

However, and you could probably sense the however coming, I couldn’t help feeling a tinge of sadness at times as I watched young people weighed down by responsibilities and stresses beyond what we would wish for them.  What became apparent was for most of them the main culprit was an education system making too many demands on them, delivered by teachers who have too many demands placed on them, administered by managers who have too many demands made on them, ruled by policy makers and politicians who have lost sight of the individuals at the other end of the chain of command.  An education system where emotional literacy and creativity has been sidelined for results and league tables and which is having a devastating impact on the emotional stability and mental balance of our young people.  Too many YTYT members two weeks into term are already buckling under the weight of what’s expected of them…and these aren’t weak people, these are some of the most resilient and brilliant people I know.

At the end of the week as I reflect on what I’ve heard and seen I am left trying to salvage some positivity from these observations and I suppose the best I am left with is that at least YTYT is there.  At least there is somewhere for these brilliant young people to spend time in that values them for who they are, that gives them the freedom to explore what they might become and endeavours not to hold them ransom for what they might fail to do.  The bonus is that while they’re there they inspire me and each other which is a wonderful thing to be part of…  

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