What's happening at YTYT

Summer celebration blog by Ellie So what a weekend we’ve had at yew tree!! LAMDA exams on Saturday where I took my grade 7, and then the Summer Celebration on Sunday and it’s safe to say the days festivities were an absolute joy!! So my very busy Yew Tree week starts off on a Monday volunteering at Sapphire company, where they were having their last rehearsal of “The Audition” a play based on an audition for Romeo and Juliet, with themes of revenge, competition and jealousy, the cast were up to the challenge. Sitting at my little sound desk (AKA Sarah’s computer and an amp) you could just see the determination in the group to perfect their piece. The simple use of just one song “I hope I get it” being repeated really allowed the narrative to be more focused. Then my first rehearsal of Tuesday night was “Standardisation” written by Gold companies own Becky Holderness and directed by Helena Wilkinson. Working on this piece has been interesting for me to work with a writer and director ot

It’s been a while since I blogged…a long while…but if the events of the last few weeks don’t merit a blog I don’t know what would… Unless you’ve been in social media hibernation you’ll be all too aware that YTYT fulfilled a long held ambition this summer to perform our play as part of the NT Connections festival at the National Theatre. (I imagine even, “…the dogs on the street,”* were fully aware) It’s been the most amazing experience for all of us…creatively fulfilling, exciting, enriching and educational – I’ve learnt so much, the cast have learnt so much and we’ve learnt it all having the nicest time.   I will be forever grateful for every bit of it…it was absolutely worth all the paperwork and logistics and time…genuinely something I will “Never forget.”*    On reflection although there were a myriad of things that made the experience unforgettable two of the main ones is that for the entirety of the adventure we were surrounded by kindness and generosity.   I want

And a third from Dec Kelly CONNECTIONS 2017-2018 completed it mate It’s hard to describe that feeling, the feeling when we found out we were going to the National. Remember Tom messaging me whilst I was at work and not going to lie nearly dropped the pizza... After 14 years of Yew tree youth theatre being part of the connections festival, we finally made it but the thing is it wasn’t just joyous for the ceasefire babies cast but everyone single past yew tree member who had committed to the program years ago. I guess it gave a sense of community for everyone coming together past and present to appreciate and join the journey towards this amazing experience. But who would have thought back in November 2017 that Yew tree youth theatre would have preformed at THE NATIONAL THEATRE??? ‘The ceasefire babies’ by Fiona Doyle, is a hard hitting play which explores theme which can be present as universal rather than locked to the location of the play. Having a play which we as a cast could rela

The second NT Connections blog is from Lucy! I am one of the lucky people who had the pleasure of travelling to London on Wednesday for connections (and I’ve got the t-shirt to prove it). Connections has been something I’ve wanted to do since I joined Yew Tree about four years ago. I just wanted to be part of this challenge that most of those around me had done the years before. The first Connections performance I saw was Hactivists and I just wanted to be part of something like that. It took far too long for half term dates to match up. From start to end, this has been something incredible; I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to perform with. I think the best thing about this whole project has been seeing each and every person growing and improving. I may be slightly biased but I think one of the greatest transformations has been that of Nathan. From someone who hated performing and was basically dragged into the whole thing by his pushy sister, he’s now actually excit

First Blog about Connections is from Connor! I normally have a title for these but I'm going to keep this straight to the point. Connections 2017-18 was an unexpected gem in my life. I've already wrote once about how I wasn't originally going to sign up as I was worried about it taking up time that I would use to focus on my GCSEs, as well as the fact that I wasn't confident I was good enough yet. So, instead I'm going to tell you what was going on in my head from when I found out we were off to the National till now (A week after the performance). So, we received the news that we were asked to perform at the National on 16th May and I couldn't believe it at first. Initially, I thought it was one last appreciation post by Sarah but when it began with "message I've wanted to write for the past 14 years" I knew something was up. Then when it finally hit me I ran up and down my house for around 5 minutes, with the biggest grin on my face I think I ma