Another packed weekend...

-
Yesterday was a treat as once again I got to see my “Brave and brilliant,”* actors perform at the Hepworth.  In the afternoon they were “LivingBooks,” quoting from the writings and conversations of sculptors to entertain and enlighten visitors to the gallery.  In the evening Brin and his Band of Everyday Heroes were well met for one last time…they were warmly complimented by many for being generally impressive and I was immensely proud of both casts, many of whom have juggled so many projects for YTYT recently and who were, as ever, absolute class acts.

However today I got to do something completely different as I got chance to learn about something I have never tried before.  I spent my Sunday with some of Sapphire and the lovely Charlotte learning all things puppetry.  It was so nice to spend the day not having to manage a million variables, not being responsible for every element of the day.  It was also excellent to leave the workshop with new skills and ideas…but I think perhaps the best bit of the day was seeing the YTYT members that took part in an entirely new light…who would have known that Sara would have been so good at moving the puppet’s feet in a way that made the movement look entirely believable, who would have guessed that Ben would be a genius at lip synching…who would have anticipated that Sam, Tom and Abbie would be able to make a frog beat box!!  

From a standing start all the young people in the room really got to grips with this fascinating craft and even the most uncertain at first gained confidence and prowess.  We now have a clear method for how to bring our Frog Prince to life and turn a puppet into an engaging, entertaining character…I’m really looking forward to passing on all that we learnt to the rest of Sapphire when we start rehearsing with our puppet in earnest tomorrow night.


*Review from a Litfest audience member

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