Emily's Leaving Blog

Wow. 13 years of being a YTYT member is coming to an end. I genuinely don’t know where the time has gone or quite how I can put it into words how much it has impacted my life. However, I’m starting to write this blog on the 22nd July because I know for a fact that my original write up will have things missed out so I can insert them when I think of them.

I first met Sarah when I was 2 years old at WYTDC when I danced in baby class (that lovely Little Miss Muffet and Spider duet:/) with Tom but then it wasn’t till I was 5 that I started the drama classes with her. Of course at 5 it wasn’t as though I was tackling Shakespeare (that happened 11 years later) but back then between that age and about 8 I believe I took away more life building blocks than if I didn’t have that teaching. Back then I was just a little girl who used to always butt in when Sarah was speaking (sorry Sarah!) because I got so giddy at whatever we were doing. I don’t quite remember what my first “play” was (Giraffe’s Can’t Dance rings a bell perhaps?) however I do remember every term bring to life one of Carol Ann Duffy’s stories (like Lost Happy Endings) through physical theatre as these were the types of stories that were best to teach in a drama class at a dance school!

Then when Orange Company started when I was about 8 at Horbury Methodist Church I, alongside Ella, Sam, Maddie, Tom, Marianne and a few others were there for the very first Orange Company sessions. This was were I got to experience my first proper “YTYT Christmas Shows” which involved something to do with Christmas and Teddy Bears however I just gone through all the old photos for it and for the life of me I can’t remember what it was called... oops... For my last show as an original Orange Company member, it was a piece about World War 1 Christmas in the trenches which was the first time I thought I was “acting” as it was the first mature piece I had ever done that involved a matter close to people’s hearts so I’ll definitely always remember this one.

Then I moved to Sapphire Company on a Monday night which, looking back on the pictures now, involved some extremely bad fashion choices on my part. I mean, orange chinos with a bright red hoodie? Not exactly London fashion week material is it Anyway aside from this, Sapphire Company gave me so many opportunities from Children’s Excursions based on evacuation in World War Two to Rumpelstilskin to Princess and the Frog which was my final Sapphire Christmas Show, there’s a few I’ve missed from the list. I remember that one of Sapphire’s signature parts of the Christmas Shows was what part did the narrators play because we’d always devise some form of back story for them in order to give the actors playing them some form of character, rather than just having to tell the audience a story which was always a delight seeing what ideas came up during our Summer devising term. What I took away most from Sapphire was that this is when Ellie came into my life properly. I’d been at school with her since year 7 but had never spoke and her coming to Yew Tree brought us closer than ever and she is literally one of my sisters forever.

During this time was my first ever National Connections. Wow this was daunting. After watching “The Wardrobe” earlier in the year, I couldn’t wait to start. However, I was the youngest in the cast my at least 10 months as my birthday fell earlier in the school year so I meant I met the age earlier than the rest of my friends. However, this is how I learnt so much as o had to rise up to everyone else’s standard and maturity in acting, especially when I’d been used to being one of the eldest in Sapphire. Hacktivists was our play for 2015 and for me, this was the perfect play for my first year. I played Siobhan (believe me when I say I spent half the time trying to pronounce the name) and she only had a few lines however was on stage all the time so this play taught me a lot about action/reaction and constantly listening to the other characters on stage. The play was based on a group of high school teens who liked to hang around in a portacabin in the school grounds which was full of old techy type things however when a new face comes to the group, they begin to believe they can cyber attack big companies under her influence and how Archie brought them back to reality. Which how this play was structured, we used “the fourth wall” which basically means that we can’t look out into the audience as it is as though we are actually in a portacabin and the audience are looking in. This taught me so much about being constantly in the world of the play and not letting outside thoughts come in to ruin the illusion. I also learnt a lot about character building as, with Siobhan having limited lines, I got to build a whole back story from my imagination as I could scope her to be whoever I wanted her to be. With this came my first Kendal experience and the whole weekend of getting to go away with my Yew Tree family honestly has memories I’ll treasure. Also I remember one of the other performances at Kendal had us sat on stage and the performers sat amongst us. I however didn’t clock on to this so I was talking to a performer (I didn’t know she was) and was like “we’re blocking the wings, where will they come from” to which Rhiannon and Tom were literally looking at me in disbelief as it turns out everyone else had noticed they were sat amongst us... apart from me! This is where I first met Dec as we both started our Connections journey together and I couldn’t think of anyone better to have spent it with!

My second National Connections was Eclipse and this was completely different to Hacktivists. For one, we had 2 casts and then a separate company. Playing Jane alongside Bobbie (who’s character was Polly and then Eve and Charlotte played us in the other cast) is one of the funniest processes I’ve had in the rehearsal room as the pair of characters had some of the most ridiculous lines I’ve ever had so Jane was so fun to bring to life. Apart from being soaked half way through with water, I know Eve enjoyed pouring it over me so much Hahahaha. Again Kendal came around and this time we ended up playing Cards Against Humanity at like 3am and barely getting any sleep but again, the best time.

By this time I had moved to Black Company which my first project was “Remember The Oaks” for the miners festival at Barnsley Lamproom Theatre. I was 15 and was the baby of the group since everyone was 16+ but since they were all from Connections I didn’t mind. I just remember Ellie working backstage with us and having to help me with the quickest quick change ever from a long skirt, shirt, shawl and hair in a bun to jeans, top and hair down and god knows how we got me on stage all the time but we did!

For the Christmas Shows this year, I was part of Red Shoes through the drama class at WYTDC which was really fun to bring a story to life through dance and perform to the YTYT audience, I gave a different side to acting that was different to the other pieces! I was also part of Black Company’s performance and I just remember balancing on Dec’s shoulder for 5 minutes on my stomach (no exaggeration and there’s the picture to prove!) right at the end of it and I’m impressed that we nailed it after countless drops and wobbles in rehearsals! But that’s all part of the fun.

Surprise surprise, it’s Connections time again! This time it was Three by Harriet Braun. For my GCSE year, this was properly the best play we could have picked for me personally as all the parts (apart from the narrator) had 2 and a half scenes to learn so the demand on the lines side of things was more of a relief than Eclipse however it didn’t mean that it wasn’t a challenge, it definitely was. Each scene had 2 main characters, for me it was myself and Sam, then each character had an ‘inner voice’ played by Eve and Tom for my scenes. However, I could only hear Eve and Sam’s characters as obviously you wouldn’t be able to hear what someone’s inner voice is saying... if that makes sense? I’ll tell you now, having to only visually be able to see one person on stage (Sam) but listening to two but still acting whilst Tom spoke to act as though the conversation is one challenge and a half! And I definitely know I’ve not described this so people can understand but hopefully you’ve got the drift hahaha! This play taught me so much about how important characterisation is and the back story behind every line. Why did I say it? What would the impact be? Also thought, action then feeling allowed me to keep each action appear spontaneous and in the moment as opposed to me going through the actions. This year, we didn’t go to Kendal due to no festival being held there anymore, instead Sheffield Crucible but even that came with its dramas. After our tech, turns out we had a massive power cut and had to postpone the performance (Friday) to the Monday! This was also when Eve and I got “Evesickle and Emsickle” on hoodies as a joke and we completely forgot... until the physically came and we remembered...

Next came my first full length Shakespeare and wow this was a journey. As it was during my GCSE’s, the agreement between my parents and I was that I could only take part if I had a smallish role. So Lady MacDuff I became (alongside a few servant roles). Good thing that the Shakespeare I was doing in English Lit was MacBeth as it both helped me with the storyline for doing the play, and for learning quotes for my exam! This was possibly my most stressful period to date as I was trying to juggle so much. But I pulled through and performing this was definitely such an achievement!

Like last year, I was involved in two Christmas Shows this year. Time with Black Company and Ella with Gold Company, both completely different but equally amazing.

Then comes my biggest achievement and memory of Yew Tree. Connections 2018 Ceasefire Babies and I’m not just saying this because we took it to the National Theatre, genuinely never been so pushed with a part. For one, Jamie was the polar opposite to me. She wanted to start a feud in Northern Ireland like the 1970’s!! So getting into that mentality that my character was willing to sacrifice everything to get what she wanted, whether that meant jail or not, and it didn’t matter who she controlled to get it. It had been a breath of fresh air to play her and I enjoyed the challenge of helping to carry the play. I remember when we got the news of the National Theatre. Ben, Tom Mason and I were finishing off our LAMDA lesson and Connections rung Sarah, bare in mind they only ever email. Then when Sarah confirmed it I literally cried. My dad ran upstairs thinking I’d hurt myself. I FaceTimed my mum and I just couldn’t get the words out, I was just crying to her without her having a clue and me just repeating “we did it” constantly. I’ll never forget that feeling but having to keep it quiet for 3 weeks was the hardest thing. The National Theatre was the best experience of my life, my first taste of how professional theatres work and it only made me work harder for what I want. It was also the company which had all of my best friends in it which made the whole experience even better.

Fear and Misery in the Third Reich was interesting. With us having the surprise of Ceasefire Babies at the National, that became the priority which made this play so much harder. It’s a very challenging text to tackle so the odds were stacked against us. But again, this was such a learning curve as we all put in so much graft (and tears) in order to do a performance I’m so proud of.

Now my final Christmas Shows. Are We Going For a Spin was soooooo fun! I also played the mean girl (I feel like this was a theme for my characters in 2017) and getting a workshop by a Strictly professional was insane!

My final Connections was Chaos in which initially I was the sound person for until we performed at York Theatre Royal in which I took over Jacob’s role as he was in America. For me, this ended my Yew Tree experience on such a high, especially as my scenes were with my brother.

LAMDA was also a massive part of the last 2 years as I’ve completely from Grade 5-8 in Acting. I found out that Greek is more my forte than Shakespeare monologues and that portraying someone with one arm is much harder than it initially sounds but that has made me so much more confident with my performance skills and I would definitely recommend it to anyone!

It’s hard to sum up 13 years in a single blog and I applaud you if you’ve managed till now but I have so many memories and even some that I’ve missed out such as Yew Tree Summer Celebrations and The Hepworth Job. However I have some thank yous...

Ellie, Lara, Maddie, Charlotte, Mia and Eve for being the BEST friends a gal could ever wish for, more like sisters, and getting to perform alongside you all for so long is the best thing I could ever ask for and you’re all so talented.

Dec for always being there, being like a big brother to me and for stressing out together when learning lines hahahah.

Tom for not fully killing me during Ceasefire Babies when you had to grab me by the collar but for also being a great person to act on stage with for however long we’ve done this.

Helena for literally being the mum of the group. You are one heck of an inspirational person to look up to.

Mum and Dad for how much time and money they’ve spent on rehearsals, costumes, tickets, exam fees and petrol in order to be the most supportive parents ever.

There’s so many more people I could write about but I don’t want to take all day. The biggest thank you goes to Sarah and Oz. I’ve had my ups and downs but you’ve never given up on me and always helped push and challenge me when I didn’t think I could go any further. For providing me with the most amazing opportunities that I’ll forever be grateful for and I’m so lucky to have experienced them. Being a second mum to me in Disney when I had no clue what to do. Giving me an outlet to just be me for a couple hours a week doing something I absolutely adore has been amazing and I have learnt so much since being that little 5 year old who would constantly butt in to the slightly more mature 18 year old who is not only taking away acting techniques, but also life lessons which I believe make me the person I am today.

See you later Yew Tree Youth Theatre, you’ve been an absolute pleasure and I’m sure I’ll see you all so soon.

Arden School of Theatre, I’m ready for you...