Eliana's Leaving Blog

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 So I started writing this literally fifteen minutes after I walked out the door of my last drama session. Which is a slightly horrifying concept that I've still not really admitted aloud (it's now been more than a month).


I've been coming to drama sessions with Sarah at least once a week for nine years of my life, so I don't think it's at all a stretch to say Yew Tree has had a fair hand in raising me, and now that it's done it feels weirdly anti-climatic(?). It's just a normal Thursday, nothing especially memorable has happened, but it's the last time I'll ever be coming to drama regularly and it's the first time the thought of leaving for university and growing up (*shudder*) has actually felt real. Yew Tree has been a constant part of my childhood - I honestly cannot remember a time when I haven't come to sessions and I can say confidently that I've always adored every minute of them. I turned 18 recently, and finished sixth form 6 days later, but leaving drama was what prompted a minor existential crisis. Part of the sadness is leaving shows and performing behind but I know, realistically, there'll be other acting opportunities. The real problem is leaving the other actors and, obviously, Sarah. 


The beauty of having different companies, and nearly a decade of coming to Yew Tree, means I've made more than a few friends at drama, but the last two years in Black Company and Connections have been my favourite "era" (if you will;)) at Yew Tree. Something clicked with Connections in 2022 (the ever-iconic 'Hunt') and despite lockdowns and the years of chaos, I really believe Hunt is the thing that a) kept me sane and b) allowed me to change in so many ways. I went so far out of my comfort zone at the time (little did I know a full-length Shakespeare comedy and a stage-strangle were in my future - facts which are hilarious to me in retrospect) and gained so much confidence as a result, and I will always be 

 grateful for that experience. For the last few years of Connections and Black Company Thursdays, I've made friends absolutely for life and done shows that I will remain proud of forever, with people that I admire more than I can describe. 


It probably (definitely) sounds slightly (very) sappy to some people, and potentially exaggerated, but honestly all the people I've met at Yew Tree are unbelievably talented, welcoming, intelligent, brave, hilarious, ridiculous, utterly lovely - the list goes on. You can say anything positive about any one of them and it'll be true. I can't thank any of you enough for how brilliant you've all been, this year and last. 16 year old me started Black Company chronically shy and somewhat terrified of just walking into the room - 2 years later I'm leaving as an entirely different person, influenced massively by all of you. You're all amazing - it's been said hundreds of times and I'll say it hundreds more. 


Yew Tree has always been somewhere I've adored coming, both because it always is a welcome escape from reality, and because it's always been accepting and warm. That is entirely down to Sarah. You have to be easily the most patient person in history, and are without a doubt, the kindest person I have ever or will ever meet. I'm a happier and more confident person for having known and been taught by you, so thank you. Yew Tree would not be the joy that it is without you, and I am so so lucky that Emerald Company followed ballet classes and my mum just signed 8-year-old-me up for drama as well, just because I liked being narrator in school plays when I was younger, so I might like acting too. 


I stumbled across YTYT completely accidentally, and it became a defining part of my life. It has been one of the most valuable experiences I know I'll ever have, for a hundred reasons, and there aren't enough words to explain how much I have loved my time here, or how much I'll miss coming to sessions. But I am forever grateful for Yew Tree and it has been an absolute pleasure. <3


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