Connor's Review of 2021

 So, 2021 at Yew Tree; where do I even begin?

For starters, “Hello” this is ‘Past Connor’ writing to you for like the ninth time by this point (I’ve done a lot of these). 2021 was unlike any other year at YT, as you can imagine, with shows almost being cancelled because of covid, plays being rehearsed online & in person (one was significantly better than the other) and a Christmas Show that was teched plus performed on the same day. Needless to say, things have been interesting.

January arrived (as did another Lockdown) and after Black Company’s performance of ‘Neverland’ we moved onto a 1920s style Murder Mystery dubbed, ‘When Those Few Gather’. What was special about this show is it was all going to be devised and written by Black Company over many Zoom sessions before finally being brought to life in the summer with a few in-person rehearsals. It was quite an ambitious project! Every member of the company brought their own ideas to the table and while there were some debates sometimes surrounding “Who the killer should be?”, “What are the character's relationships like?” and “How much of it is Connor allowed to write?” We finished the script. I was to play ‘Ernest Kingsley’ , a young man who turns to alcohol to distract him from his trauma suffered during the war (quite a lot going on there). It was unlike any role I’ve ever played, Ernest was cruel, cowardly and straight up abusive towards his family. I had the honour of working alongside my real-life partner, Arwen. She played ‘Celia’, Ernest’s (for lack of a better term) mistress who he regularly verbally torments. It was always fun to be shouting in each other’s faces one moment and then be walking home together the next. The performance came and it was fantastic. Special shoutout to Jacob, who stepped in at the last moment to cover for the main role with only two rehearsals before the show. Arwen & I had a little fight scene in the play in which we managed to make her mum cry (which I take as the greatest compliment someone has given me about my acting). I was proud of what the company was able to create especially given the circumstances we found ourselves in (I may or may not have had covid during the performance, not that I knew it).

Meanwhile, Connections is happening at the same time with ‘Witches Can’t Be Burnt’ and while I have many gripes with the script itself, the performances that everyone gave were fantastic. Another (very biassed) special shoutout to my little brother Callum who gave a great performance multi-rolling in the show as two completely contrasting characters and still being believable as both with Bo & Mr Briggs. Connections nowadays looks a little different, to begin with our hoodies are blue, we’re doing a play called, ‘Hunt’ (which I love) and it’s all being done in person (fingers crossed). I’m thoroughly enjoying playing the role of ‘Steve’ and being just a bit of a menace. You better come see it in March…OR ELSE!

Anyway, I started taking LAMDA exams this year (three years after initially wanting to do them) and got a Distinction in my Grade 5 Acting exam, which I was thrilled with. I performed ‘Lucifer’ from 'Immaculate’ by Oliver Lansley and ‘Charlie’ from 'Private Peaceful' by Michael Morpurgo. Both offered unique challenges as well as testing my theoretical skills with questions that I had to answer to the examiner (who was lovely by the way). I highly recommend taking LAMDA exams if you can.

Finally, we move onto the Christmas Shows! Black Company performed an original piece theatre based on the christmas song ‘Fairytale of New York’. I, once again, got to perform alongside Arwen (we didn’t plan that). I also got to pretend to be drunk again (also wasn’t planned) and I even got to do some singing in the show which I haven’t done since Miners Memorial back in 2016. The show was a lot of fun and it was so nice to be in that buzzing backstage environment again. I even got to do sound for ‘Little Fir Tree’ which was delightful and also really stressful. (Final) Special Shoutout to the Knights in Sapphire Company you were all hilarious and it was such a blast watching you rap.

On the whole, this year at YT was different in many ways; however, one thing remains consistent and that is YT is a wonderful place to be and I’m so grateful to be a part of it.