Arwen's review of YTYT 2021

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This year at Yewtree has been the most important one for me so far. It has been a solid foundation of support and growth for me, especially since the start of the new academic year.


In the summer, after receiving unjust and disheartening A Level results, due to the impact of Covid, despite all my hard work; I, firstly, cried and then went on a night out with my mates, but secondly, and most importantly, made the courageous decision to take a gap year. My results gave me the biggest push and brightest sign I could be given to fully throw myself into my acting and pursue it professionally. Something I didn’t think I would “realistically” do, and something I always thought I would keep as a hobby in my life and let it go no further. Yet I realised that ever since I was a little girl, performance had always been there - and it would not go away, no matter how hard I focused on other things.


So at the start of September, after having a discussion with Sarah I told her “Throw everything that you’ve got at me, I want to do it all” and it’s led me to a wonderful few months, and the most brilliant and reassuring vision I could have had for the start of my Gap Year.


Every Thursday afternoon, I had the joy of volunteering with the lovely kids in Yellow Company. I helped run their sessions and rehearsals, play games, and did the sound for them in their Christmas performance of Alice in Winterland. It made me appreciate the other side of my profession, and also felt a great deal of sympathy for Sarah and the hard work she puts in for us all. I cannot wait to get back to them in the New Year.


I continued on in Black Company as I had always done, and enjoyed putting together our performance of A Fairy Tale in New York, playing a bartender called Petra - very easily managing to pull her characterisation from my same job, and talk about the “interesting” people a bartender has to deal with. I have started this year’s Connection’s also, working on our play for this year called Hunt, in which I play the misunderstood and disadvantaged Danielle - a character I am fully in love with and find so interesting as I'm analysing her more with each session we do. I’m pretty certain to say already, she’ll be one of my favourite characters I've portrayed.


I’ve also completed my Grade 5 LAMDA exam this Yewtree year, proudly earning myself a distinction (some much needed academic validation) and I’m well on my way to working towards my Grade 7 in March, I did say I wanted to do it all. LAMDA exams have been my favourite part of Yewtree this year. It's been a big challenge but so gratifying to pull apart a character and a monologue, gain a deeper understanding of it, and then perform it. It’s been a crucial part in building me up towards my drama school applications. In which being at Yewtree has given me a very sturdy place of support and encouragement towards.


I’m looking forward to starting another year at Yewtree in January, and if these past 4 months have been so brilliant - then I'm on the edge of my seat for what the rest of my gap year here has to offer.


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