Chloe's Leavers Blog - finally :)

If you’d like an insight into how our connections plays are made...here Jacob! 

Welcome once again to the rambling, but hopefully still enjoyable, blog of the one and only Jacob Dore. The topic for this blog is connections week, a very much enjoyable time of year for all those esteemed actors who take part in connections. What is connections week you might ask? Well it’s exactly what it sounds like, it’s a week of giving up your February half term to constantly rehearse the connections play from dawn to dusk. Now this might sound quite off-putting to anybody considering doing connections in the years to come but I’ll let you in on a little secret... You get food. Sure you might have to pay for the food and it’s nutritional value may be in theory only but nonetheless, a highlight of any thespians life. But in all seriousness I cannot express enough how incredible this week has been, not just for me but for all my fellow connections attendees. It is an amazing time where you are fully able to get to grips with what it means to be your character and the emotions and soul this fictional person has. As cliché as it sounds, they become a real person.

Now in this section I’d like to draw attention to the talented and resilient people I have worked alongside. Above all else everybody in this cast has always given 100% in their performances (even if it is the 20th time doing the same line because it juuuust wasn’t quite right). They’ve not only been resilient in the face of challenges in session but also outside, they’re always ready to set aside the problems of the scary outside world and get their heads down. It also goes without mentioning all of the cast are incredibly talented, even down to the youngest member. Now unfortunately I’m going to have to namedrop someone as much as he’ll probably hate me for it, but it can’t go unspoken. One of my fellow cast members and closest compadres inside of Yewtree, Nathan Crawshaw, has made such leaps and bounds (actually it’s not justice to call them leaps or bounds, these are absolute launches he’s made) in not only his confidence but his skill and genuine heart when performing. Before connections it’s no secret that he wasn’t always the most vocal and confident, but when he steps into his costume and sprints onto stage, he’s loud, he’s proud and he’s Johnny. I’m going to stop singing his praises now because I feel at this point I’m embarrassing him, but what I’ve just said about Nathan can be applied to any and all of the ceasefire babies cast, they are all such an incredible cast that it is an honour and a privilege to have had them be my last connections squad, they have made this year so much easier for me and for that they are legends.