What's happening at YTYT

It’s been a busy week this week to say it was half term. Not only has writers, Gold and Black kept going through the holiday but Ivory’s session was extended to become a full day of writing inspired by the theme of suspense and also Crimson had a full day to work on their brilliant version of Cinderella. At times the momentum that Yew Tree Youth Theatre is picking up is both breathtaking and a little scary…the groups are expanding, the talent is developing, the demand for our work is growing, the ambition is braver. It’s exhilarating but I’m very aware we need to keep our feet on the ground and remember what the ethos of our work is. Essentially nothing has changed about that…at the heart of our work, just as it was all those years ago when we started with just 8 members, is the development of young people’s self esteem, confidence and skills…I think what’s changed is our knowledge of how powerful that can be and how stunning the results are… All this week I have watched with pride

Jack Iredale stepped up to the role of guest blogger this week with a report in on Gold Company rehearsals The main plot point behind, "The Twelve Dancing Princess," is, obviously, the fact that they go dancing every night. Whilst hinted at it throughout the play, we don’t actually see the dance until scene ten. But even from the few rehearsals we’ve had (I say we, I’m one of the few cast members not doing it), it already looks brilliant. One of the reasons is, it’s one of the few performances I’ve seen at Yew Tree where we’ve had actual dancing. However, looking at it closely, it’s more physical theatre than full on dancing, which means that as well as being enjoyable to watch, it also means that for those...non-dancing people at Yew Tree don’t have to learn a load of complicated steps to put together a fantastic piece of physical theatre. It starts off with slow, sombre movements that change into quick paced, frantic action, the contrast working well both visually, and in

There is a risk that the theme of today’s blog will sound just a tad judgemental but I’m not going to apologise as I genuinely feel that it’s worth saying. It has come to my attention that some of the youth theatre are cowards…I can almost feel the intake of breath from across the ether…but I’m standing by it…and my discovery regarding cowardice has been made through my new litmus test…a certain game called foot stomp… So there we are at the Sapphire company playing the aforementioned game and it comes to my attention that certain individuals, who incidentally I would have thought better of are skulking in corners, using uber defensive tactics such as making pathetic little jumps just to shirk the responsibility of being on, jumping away from the action…and I have to say I was shocked…this cowardice was brought into even greater focus by the bravery of others such as Olena and, it’s important to mention, someone who had only just started that day…as I said to the skulkers at the time,

I love Dee's blog...so it's a happy week when she writes them...oh..hello happy week... I haven’t done a blog in time so thought I'd pipe up and give you a cheeky insight to the Christmas productions I’m a part of… Thursdays are always a pleasure I remember laughing a lot last Thursday such a good session including zombie-ing and scoobying it up with Ashly ha but yeah shutup Dee, we're doing, "The Lost Happy Endings," which is an absolute sensation, it’s an excuse for me to prance about so this makes me happy haa. Its gonna look so pretty with all the physical theatrey biz that goes on through it… and like at first when we started some of the team were like ‘eeek were like having to dance and spin and that!’but now everyone’s like ‘woooh lets prance around’. Well they're not ha, but everyone’s getting into it and biz and I think its fair to say we all love the piece - the amount of spins, lifts and just general images and movements we make, I just wish I g

A blog from Jamie Mottershaw who's visiting at the moment... Last night I went to see The Thrill of it all by Forced Entertainment with other members of the Black Company. I’m not going to do a review of it as we are collaboratively doing that over at Sarah’s blog but instead talk about it opening my eyes to new things. As a training actor, I have a rough idea of where I want to go in life. Some people want to be become teachers, some practitioners, directors, youth theatre leaders, or a straight-up actor are the first things that come to mind. But after seeing such a different piece of theatre it has made me wonder what else is still out there for me to experience and maybe something I absolutely love is just around the corner and will change my career direction dramatically. Although I did not like what I saw last night it was something that I would have never thought of making myself as the whole concept of the play is to go against any idea that we know and are tau

I’ve been thinking about lead roles this week… in itself it’s a strange concept within Yew Tree because the ethos in the youth theatre and the company in a wider sense is all about ensemble. I think this train of thought is maybe at the front of my head because connections is not so much on the horizon but approaching with speed and because I’m starting to see how the casting decisions we made way back in the cinema are turning out. It’s an interesting thing to ponder because after the initial thrill and sense of self satisfaction when you get the role you hoped for I think maybe getting a lead isn’t the best deal… It’s become clear as we approach the next stage of the rehearsal process for the Christmas shows that the demands placed on those with a lot of lines are significant…you have to learn the lines, remember the lines, understand the lines, communicate the lines and all this with a director who quite happily changes their mind from week to week about how she wants to stage the

Thomas McNulty enjoying his once a term pass to the Gold Company... Hello Yew Tree...Just thought id write another blog for all you blog readers...So then lets begin shall we... A few days ago I asked Sarah if I could have a cheeky visit to the Gold Company session to not only see the progress the group had been making on, "Worn Out Shoes," but to also be a part of the sessions again, even if its just once a term after I left the group along with several other strong and wonderfully committed members and friends of Yew Tree… Since leaving the Gold Company sessions, I have missed going to them so much and spending my Saturday mornings with great friends. It really hit home when I was paying for the session and noticed my name no longer on the register. However today’s little visit was brilliant because not only did I got to see some old faces, as well as some of the newest members to the Gold Company who have become part of the group so well but also the work they've been

I'm loving the fact that there is a new weekly blogger...Mr. Danny Southern ladies and gentlemen... So, here it is. My amazing blog. My amazing blog that features Laura 'Staggsy' Staggs every week. My amazing blog that features Laura 'Staggsy' Staggs every week, and she still hasn't read. Pfft. Well, we won't mention her today. Nope. So, yeah... you've blown it now Staggsy, blown it. Anyway, let's get to the wonderful world of "blissful content" and just epic-ness of Sapphire Company. What. A. Group. Even with a whole week between sessions, their little minds still remember everything. Bless. Yep, the storm was brill, we added some extra, but the main thing is, NO-ONE GOT HURT! Good times guys, good times. Everyone remebered their cues and Olena didn't get obliterated in the process so it's all good. NEWSFLASH: GRENDLE AND KATE MADE AN APPEARANCE!! But God, it was worth the wait. Emma's witchity-ness and general austere of wise

Imogen from Crimson has blogged about the Miners Memorial Service we performed on Sunday Walking down the aisle of the Abbey you see the look on the people's faces the look of sorrow and the look of hope that there loved ones are in a better place. The play we created was all about mining and it displayed the feelings and emotions of the miners the family's that have been involved with the miners for generations. You could see as people watched the play that it meant everything to some people sat there, that some relation or family had gone though this difficult, exhausting, painful hard work. Not only that I had never known much about mining but this play has shown me alot and I will aways think of the gentlemen, women and children that lost their lives. Also a brighter side too by doing the play i have found better relationships with many people from Yew Tree I have grown a stronger relationships with many and I am glad I did it.

Couldn't be happier to get another blog...This time from Catherine Harris... I’ve been at Yew Tree Youth Theatre for 6 years now, but only working with the Red Company and Gemma for about a year and a half. I started work with the younger members as part of my Duke of Edinburgh Award, but enjoyed it so much I stayed on working with them. This week in the Red Company we played some of the new games Gemma had learnt at a recent work shop. One of these was about squirrels and trees, which all the little ones seemed to enjoy and played it really well for a new game. Then we played the Bean game, which has quickly become a favourite and I was in charge. I don’t run many games but I have done this one a few times and I think it’s one of the best, as everyone loves it and it is fun to play. After that we get everyone to sit down and read a story, which one of the kids has brought in. We then split into groups and get them to perform a part of the book in their own way. This week’s book wa

Another first time blogger...hurray! This time Rhiann from Crimson Company... So this term at Yew Tree, we’ve started our play, Cinderella, which is going to be performed for Christmas which is really exciting as it’s my first Christmas play with Yew Tree. It’s my favourite fairytale and since we’ve started writing the parts, it’s reminded me of the memories of been little and reading it before bedtime with my mum. Basically, the play is bringing to life the classical fairytale which is well known across the world, and our version is going to be the best, I know it! We’ve just finalised the first couple of scenes which is great saying we’ve only been back a month as well as the fact we had to cast which Gemma did amazingly - as well as writing the monologues and the first couple of scenes. Also in Crimson, we’ve got a new helper, Joanna, who is helping Gemma by co-writing and helping with costumes - not to mention about everything else. Joanna has already become a really good part of

Asking people to do things for the youth theatre in between sessions always feels a little bit like an imposition. I like to think that, among other things, Yew Tree ticks the boxes in people’s life labelled “for pleasure, “ or “devoid of stress,” or “Just because I want to.” Therefore saying the words…”For next week I need you to…” brings on a little bit of guilt…not with Connections as I believe with that project by saying you’re going to do it you sign yourself over to accommodating my every directorial demand and not with the Black Company as I believe that joining what amounts to the top strata of a 200 people strong youth theatre involves taking on a certain amount of responsibility but yeah…with all the rest of our work there is a definite twinge of guilt amalgamated with my demands. However this week in rehearsals for our Christmas shows and also in the Miners project rehearsals I was reminded why asking for this extra time and effort doesn’t just work in my interests but in

A first time blog by Ed from the Gold company...I love it when people man up and write a blog for the first time... The first thing I have realised about blog writing is that you should never make eye-contact with Sarah if you weren’t planning on writing one. But anyway, since I have “volunteered”, I might as well have a crack at writing one so here goes; The thing I want to talk about first is just how professional everyone at Gold company is. I mean, we’ve had basically two weeks between this rehearsal and the last one, along with the fact that we are still trying to get the feel of the play, within two, maybe three minutes the scenes are as good as they were two weeks ago. And, because Sarah was being a self-confessed “finicky” director today, all the scenes got a lot better, really fast. One thing that I think doesn’t get mentioned enough, which is an absolute crime, is the way that the background music affects the mood and feel of a scene. For example, Katie’s phone conversation/m

Danny Southern with what is becoming a bit of a regular blog spot... Sapphire Group deserve better than some run-of-the-mill blog this week. So, i awoke the deep person inside me and expressed what happened in a Poetica fashion... So, here goes... The Monday nights at Yew Tree Never seem to drag They always seem to fly right by With peeps like Laura 'Staggsy' Staggs And what happened on the fourth Was something different and new A magical appearance of an oncoming storm With a drenched Constancia in view The storm had taken hold With a princess dazed and confused Not knowing where to turn Her spirit tainted and badly bruised A rush of bodies, a thunderous crack As the rain did metaphorically descend With Olena pushed towards the centre Whilst the Prince still had no girlfriend The Prince had taken trials Had taken the time to find A Princess he could call his own And wasn't deluded in their mind Jordan delivered her lines with perfection In her tone, the wickedness was rife

All the youth theatre directors of Yew Tree spent three days in Darlington this week at the National Association of Youth Theatre’s professional development event, “Raising the Game.” It’s the strangest thing to attend in some ways…imagine 80 youth theatre directors in the same room…no really imagine it for a moment… yeah…scary isn’t it… So what did we come away with? Well Gemma and Danny would really need to answer that for themselves but I came away with some really good new games…some new physical theatre techniques…black company you’re going to love them…some food for thought and questions to ask myself about our practice as a company and myself as a practitioner… Mainly however I came away with a marvelous certainty that Yew Tree Youth Theatre is something very special…so many of the things that very seasoned and experienced theatrical professionals were teaching we either have covered or are well on the way to having covered…we’re not afraid to challenge ourselves, we’re consta

Danny Southern enjoyed writing last weeks so much (and we enjoyed reading it) so he's written another...huzzah for that... Soo… what happened on Monday? Let’s see… Well I can pretty confidently say that we’re defo amazing at act 1 (well, we are professionals after all). And we’ve all got to admit that we’re all little soldiers fighting in a war between drama and actual death-defying acts – Laura “Staggsy” Staggs has once again managed to wheedle her way into this weeks blog due to her ‘accidental’ foot…erm…accident. Amidst the pain we suffer for our art, the session was slick and smooth just like my hair after using Head and Shoulders. Kate (not the witchety hag one… well… no I’ll leave it at that) was awesome at playing Lizzie and fitting in with the narrator’s crew – and has managed to remember some of her epic monologue. What. A. Leg. The Princesses were, to put it in a Sharon Osbourne fashion – FABULOUS DARLING. Their characters just seem to bring the whole stage alive with the

The 200th Yew Tree Youth Theatre blog is written by Bobbie long standing member of the Green Company who meet in Pontefract every Wednesday night...following in Aaron Wiltshire's footsteps with the second Green Company blog ever... Hey :) I'm Bobbie, from the Green Company … basically Danny and Alice told me to write about the session at Yew Tree this week so that's what I’ll do... So … we've been concentrating on the physical theatre side of drama at the moment which is, honestly, pretty cool as it's totally different to what we're used to. It's a nice change. It also made us focus too .. and the results of that really show. What we did at the last session was kind of strange … but in a good way! I don't really know how to phrase it, but here goes anyway. Danny put us into groups and I was with, Sarah (Day) and Aaron (Wiltshire) and we basically had to control the other person by moving a part of there body and make a performance out of that. I really h