Emily`s leaver blog

-

So .... i didn't think I would be writing this so soon. It doesn't feel like I should be leaving but I guess it is time so let's finally write about it all.


I started yew tree when I was 15 so I was quite late to the parade but I never felt like i got put low on the list for opportunities. I managed to join two companies, write, photograph, do exams and summer schools all because of yew tree. And I won't lie, it was extremely tough sometimes. But I never felt like I wanted to quit. I learned how to carry on because I was doing what I loved to do. But that never stopped me from knowing when too much was too much.


It's something I learned here too. How to know when to say I need a break and that's something I never had before. And that's because yew tree isn't about churning out actors. It's about learning to look after yourself and learn everyday life skills not just drama. And that's because we have the best director we could ask for. 


Getting to work with Sarah was honestly the best thing for me. I look up to Sarah so much because one day I hope to be able to conduct a cast like she does. Lamda really became such a laugh for me just because Sarah always made me and my other lamda classmates see the best of the situation as well as remember to work hard. And going into a film school I needed to see that as now I know how to talk to crew and actors whilst still getting what I need to see. Honestly i don't think i would be the person i am today without her. 


But the best thing about my experience was one particular company. Now gold and black I do love you lot and adore every single one of you but if I could show you all a compilation of how much I laughed and smiled because of orange company I would. Those kids were always one of the biggest highlights of my week. The kids are so funny and talented and just so full of energy that it made me feel energised every time i was in the room with them. No one can make a person ugly laugh at jokes made in little plays like orange can. And I genuinely am going to miss them so much. Me and Ellie have enjoyed teaching them so much and I have enjoyed also getting to learn from Ellie (who was someone I looked up to for not only being so kind but her sheer determination and love for drama). I don't know what i'm going to do without this company making me chuckle every week but i am most certainly not going to forget how they have motivated me. Because of them I remember why i`m going to film school. To be a director and hopefully one day I can come back to yew tree when they are all grown up with a film I directed to show how they were one of the stems to helping me make it to where i want to be.


I will never forget yew tree. And I wish with all my heart I could ask for some more time there but I guess it`s my time. Gotta let the new talent have a chance to shine like I did. 


Thanks for everything. My life wouldn't have been anywhere near as exciting, happy and fun filled without  yew tree.


Time for a new adventure now.


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