What's happening at YTYT

A late edition from Tafline...posting from afar...temporary member of the Black Company...now back down south but hopefully she'll visit again soon... So you know when you were younger, and you were asked to explain something as if you were explaining it to an alien? I suppose I am currently Yew Tree’s adoptive alien, and I thought you might all enjoy the reverse. That is, my two pennies on all things Yew Tree as seen from outer space. Well, the south. I think I sort of got to have my cake and eat it too. Not only did I get to be involved in the tour of Say The Words (a play and workshop dealing with teenage pregnancy) in Wakefield schools, I muscled my way into the youth theatre as well. By gum, how utterly magical. The tour was intense in so many good ways. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more invested in something so practically. It’s all well and good to get on one’s soapbox and berate passers-by with one's cures for the world’s ills, especially for something as controversia

Rachel has kindly volunteered to be our Christmas guest blogger...so here it is... Well this is my first go at ‘blogging’ so here goes! Well I haven’t been involved in many Yew Tree performances yet but I’ve still had a ball with them and since it’s Christmas I thought I’d talk about the xmas show. What a great way to get in to the Christmas spirit! As I was not in the Yew Tree version of ‘A Christmas Carol’, I have to say it what a pleasure it was to watch and what a fantastic and fresh version of the script it was too! I cannot actually believe I began feeling emotional in parts… definitely was not expecting that- (certainly shows that Yew Tree can do soppy as well as hilariously funny!) And well, I guess I can’t mention A Christmas Carol without ‘Musicians’. Need I say anymore?! Such a different type of Christmassy play but still such an amazing production to get you feeling all wintery! Being the first of my theatre productions with Yew Tree, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the

To finish off the blogs of 2009 I thought I would (gloat) celebrate about what we’ve done particularly well this year…so here goes… 1. We’re still here… Pretty obvious you might say but actually it’s been much trickier than you might imagine…the youth theatre has no money of its own and at the moment no funding…it relies on the generosity of its sister company Yew Tree Arts Ltd to subsidise the money you pay each week in order to keep going. This hasn’t been a major issue in the past but when the recession hit it’s been harder to sustain everything and anything…especially when the rent we pay to venues keeps increasing…so the fact that we’ve made it through deserves a Robert Girgis style round of applause… 2. We still know what we stand for… As organisations get bigger and more well known quite often they can lose sight of why they began in the first place…we still have at our centre the desire to create a space that is safe and inclusive, a place to play and to be creative; equally

Lucy Tranter...Member of the Crimson Company and now cast member in Sparkleshark...with her excellent debut blog... So, Sarah asked me if I could write this weeks blog. She said I could write about either our last Yew Tree session or the Sparkleshark auditions, and since I had a bit to say about both, I thought I’d write about both. Here goes... Last Saturday was our last session until after Christmas, so, as you can expect, we had some laughs. We each said our news, played some games (I’m sad to say I can’t actually remember what games we played. But hey, I’ve slept since then) and then Gemma said that in groups we were going to act out the nativity. We could either do an updated version, or do it like we were seven years old. Naturally our group did like we were seven. We decided Catherine should be the teacher and we would be the (surprisingly slack) group of kids. Each of us got our parts, basically improvised the whole thing then kept doing it until we had something worth performi

We had such a nice time in the Sapphire Company this week…I love the sessions after a performance, they should be all about celebration of the brilliant results of a terms hard work and it turns out Sapphire company know how to celebrate in style. There were cards, there were chocolates, there were many words of congratulations and loads of lovely feedback from parents, friends and family… and equally from the actors themselves about how it felt to perform at the Phoenix Theatre. For the creative task of the week we made adverts…retrospectively…for the show that had happened the week before. It took me ‘til the end of the last one to realise the significance of what they’d made. Each one was a brilliant demonstration of how far the skills of the company have developed. The challenging process of putting on a production hadn’t just resulted in a great performance but had also created a stronger company with individuals that are now significantly stronger actors…not bad for a terms w

Joanna became the guest blogger by losing the laughing game... brutal way of rounding up a assistance sure but a necessary brutality...anyway the result is a cheerful/cheesy (her words not mine) look at the week... So, the festive season is upon us and in the spirit of Christmas I’ve decided to write a blog, because Christmas isn’t just about opening presents, it’s about opening our hearts… I’m wondering whether I dare start my blog off with such cheese. Yeeeees. I wish it was possible to end a blog with jazz hands. Anyway it’s been a brilliant week of Yew Tree sessions. I always buzz off end of term games sessions. Firstly Saturday morning where we played Wink Murder, a Situation set in Santa’s Grotto. Whenever we play wink murder I always get so involved in playing that I forget there’s a murderer about so when people start dying it’s mildly annoying because I’ve been enjoying pottering about as my character until then so when it was proposed that at some point next term we could pos

No introductions necessary...he does it himself... Hmm, a Blog, wow, this is a first for me. Ok then, You all know me as Matt, strangely enough, but for the last few months I’ve been answering to “Beast”, (that and “Beastie Boy”) as, well, I WAS the Beast (I’m just that awesome) in Sapphire's production of Beauty and The Beast (That’s me, just in case you’re confused). Playing the Beast, it was good fun. I must say, it is one of my personal favourites of all the Roles I’ve ever played (even more fun than being “Zip”, but lets just not go there please), and it really helped me just, chill, a whole lot (yes, shouting helps me relax). That for one was great, as I could channel a lot of emotion into character, as while I was learning my lines and developing the Beast character, I was going through a rough time in my life, and I channelled all of that, well, negativity, into the character as darkness and aggression, with some ambiguity thrown in for good measure. I did personally find b

In the space of a week we have put on seven different plays in 4 different locations…a lot of which were premieres and some of which we performed twice. We have made audiences laugh (and cry)…we have kept them engaged; we have challenged their perceptions of what theatre is and more importantly what youth theatre can be. We have strived for the highest standard of professionalism. Individuals have stepped out of their comfort zones and exceeded the expectations of their cast members, their director, their family and friends and most significantly themselves. We have witnessed or created moments, minutes and in some cases whole scenes of pure theatrical delight. We have triumphed over technical adversity and overcome insecurity and self doubt. We have in fact had a marvellous week and should rightly feel more than proud of ourselves. Go Team Yew Tree. My request to you then is this…value it…the week and all it contained…don’t move on too quick, treasure the moments…the big ones o

Mr Jonathan Hopwood everybody... Bloggity bloggity bloggity blog. I’m finding it hard to see the screen due to the amount of spray after Yew Tree Youth Theatre's technical rehearsal on Sunday. Sundaaaay, the daaaay of rest, definitely rest on sunnnnday... if there was one day to kick back and relax, pop the kettle on and microwave your heat’em up slippers to ensure warmth this winter season... it would be a Sunday. H’oh no! Not Yew Tree. Everyone had hands on deck to try and make the day run as smoothly as possible. Techs are notoriously difficult. I put this down to having 50+ actors, who’s foundation essentials consists of oxygen, food, water and attention, coming second to the lighting and sound of the performance. However, what is sooooo brilliant about Yew Tree is that we break free from the norm and always manage to take it to the next level. The lovely thing about Yew Tree is that people use spare time to it’s full potential. Journeys are plotted over and over to ensure that

Saturday: 8.15 Get up and get ready…slightly berate myself for not getting up earlier and for making the same mistake every week. Leave the house ensuring Jonny will bring CD player and I have everything I need for today’s rehearsals… 9.15 Travel to Thornes Park with Alice and Ash…pausing only to check with Cheryl we can have the rehearsal room for the afternoon…usual stop for coffee and food 9.30 As people arrive I catch up with them about their day, their week, their costume issues…psych myself up to deal with security guard who needs a piece of paper signing 10.00 most people now in attendance go and deal with confused security guard who tries to explain new system of signing in whilst looking for the piece of paper he’s lost…not sure he understands new system…eventually sign paper and thankfully move on to… 10.05 Best and Worst…this week terrifyingly including politics and religion…always slightly risky territory…still the mixture of optimism and sad moments gives me a gauge as to