The last of the farewell blogs is by Amy...can't believe she's got away with writing so few in her loooonnnnggg YTYT life...
As it turns out, I have been at
Yew Tree Youth Theatre for an extremely long time. I have had a good long think
and I’m not sure I can actually give you a definite amount of years, but I can
promise you there have in fact been a lot of them. I am almost certain I can
remember every single Connection’s play since we started (not that I know how
many of them there have been, I think I'm going to settle for 13) and I have
actually participated in 5 of them. I have been a happy little member of Ruby
Company, Sapphire Company, Scarlett Company and Black Company. I've performed
in numerous Christmas shows, Miners Memorial Performances, and Summer School
plays. I've done various shows at Ossett Town Hall and the Hepworth and many
little wonderful and obscure places around Wakefield and the surrounding area.
I've loved doing shows that collaborate with dancing which meant I was able to
mix two of my favourite worlds together. So I think it would be better say I've
been 'in' rather than 'at' because Yew Tree (along with WYTDC) has made up the
majority of my life for the last 18 years, and it would be fair to say I
couldn’t have been more involved if I tried.
The point of this blog is to try
and commemorate my time at Yew Tree because now I'm leaving to move down to London
for university, which is crazy really. I don't know what people who don't find
them selves rocking up to a space every other week and trying to create a
performance venue out of it, do with their time to be honest. How do they not
have to get ready for obscure things in ten minutes time and have about 5
things to do in one day? It baffles me hahaha. So within this blog I am trying
to pin point things that have made my experience unique. Thus, I think one of
the most amazing things I’ve been able to enjoy about Yew Tree is the numerous
generations of YT graduates that I've watched go and become incredible and
amazing people with such different life paths. These stories are one of the
major reasons that I feel both inspired and brave enough to go and do what I'm
about to do. So not only does it mean that I know pretty much the population of
Wakefield;) I am also so motivated and inspired to go and do exactly what I
want to do just like so many of my role models I've seen do before me.
I've made some of the best
friends in the whole world here and they’re all pretty mint, as well as being
able to stay close to people I thought I'd end up drifting away from. I want to
say that I'm a different person because of things I've learnt and skills I've
been taught here, but honestly it's just everything I've been so accustomed to,
so I'm waiting ready to use everything I know in ‘real life’. I have, however,
seen how Yew Tree manages to affect everyone that comes through the doors. I've
seen the distance traveled in hundreds of young people and grown ups, truly
it's staggering. I have watched people that have become braver, or more
accepting, or more creative, or have the ability to build relationships with
others or are able to recognise their own amazing qualities or in fact all of
the above. All have become better as a result.
Another of the things that I want
to say in my last ever (well actually maybe only second ever too but I'm not
too great at blogs and they scare me a bit lol but anyway) blog is how much
behind the scenes work goes on to make such a smooth ship like Yew Tree sail
along. There is so much work, time, effort, foresight (my dad is mint at that)
as well as the important creative genius and that's just a small part of it. I
think it's very easy just to scoot along in the magicalness of sessions and
shows and lines and forget how many things need to get sorted, organised and
balanced in order for everyone to have such a wonderful time. I think that's
something I can see so well from my position and it's really important to
remember.
I can’t write everything down
that I want to say because the words won’t go into my head, but this is only
the tip of the iceberg in terms of my YTYT thoughts and experiences. So I shall
just finish up with YTYT is mint and I've loved every second of it, all of the hours
and minutes and shows and rehearsals and chilling with such super cool kids and
learning from amazing, amazing people. I love squad trips out and I love Kendal
lots and I love all the pictures and happy happy times. thank you for providing
me with a place to thrive in and grow, I love everyone lots and lots xxx
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