What's happening at YTYT

Christmas eve eh?   How’s everyone doing?   Presents all wrapped?   Food prepared?   Destination where you’re going to spend the festivities reached?   Film viewing timetable agreed? The Yew Tree Office is officially closed.   It has been since Thursday, although it’s 8.30 on Christmas Eve morning and I’ve changed the profile picture on the facebook page, uploaded the final jingle, written my 99 words, collated all the entries I’ve got so far ready to add any last minute ones and then make my decision and in a minute, when I have written this, I’m going to write some of my play…so not as closed as you’d imagine it might be… This year I’ve been one of those irritating people who, when people asked me what I wanted for Christmas, responded that I didn’t want anything…thing is I genuinely didn’t…(obviously when pressed I came up with something) and I’m going to explain why in this blog… This has been a tough year for so many people, t...

Emma took the responsibility of the Christmas Blog this year Hello from the Fretwell abode.  It’s all getting very festive around here: we’ve managed to clean and shop and I’ve just got myself settled in front of my laptop, with a mince pie and Michael Bublé’s Christmas album. This is far from the norm on a Saturday morning - usually it’s all systems go at Thornes Park (St Swithuns for Mili, who attends Purple company)….   And now I’m faced with the task of a Christmas blog, I really don’t know what to talk about. I could ramble on and on about how brilliant Connections was at the beginning of this year. We got a lovely script with Shooting Truth, the Ensemble set it off beautifully and it was just so much fun to perform. Then Kendal was perfect, from performing to playing That’s Out and making a wall of fielders to catch the ball (think it was captured on camera, and the pictures can be found on Facebook somewhere). I’m certain that the memory of Merv dancing will never lea...

I’m proper tired.    Proper end of term, going down with a cold, need a holiday tired and despite the fact that I could have slept in I got up at half seven anyway.   I’m blaming the fact that the last two weeks have held just too much.   Too much in the way of experiences, sights, revelations, performances, challenges to be met, logistics to be tackled, conversations, highs, act of generosity, laughter, risks to be managed, anticipation, frustration and last but not least too many wonderful, wonderful Yew Tree moments… I’ve decided my head is going to need a full couple of Yew Tree down time weeks to process all of this (and write a play of course.) I am going to look properly through the photo’s instead of flicking through them.   To reflect fully on the development of each group and individual I work with over this last year.   I’m going to spend time enjoying the sense of achievement I feel with everything we’ve done and to start finalisin...

James Budenburg with his annual games sesh blog I wrote this blog last year, how time flies. Except I probably did it much earlier in the morning as I’m growing lazier in my old age.  Anywho The games session had so much to live up thanks to last year’s hilarity and even with the lack of ratchet screwdriver; I think we’d all agree it did more than live up to its expectations. I was expecting to be writing about the games now, as normally I tackle my blogging in chronological order, but the creative task has to come first… so the brief was a jingle. Short, sweet, Christmassy and Yew T ree related. Looking at the casting I was anticipating finished products of a crazy and ridiculous nature, but what we came up with, I just don’t think there is a word in the English dictionary to describe it. BUT, I believe they are being put up one by one in the lead up to Christmas and if you manage to get through the entirety of MC Murphin’s escapade without laughing, then credit to you, you hav...

Sam has been generous and blogged for the second week in row As we break up for Christmas I ponder to myself. What would a week be like without Yew Tree, I daresay that I shall miss Sapphire despite the food, festivities and, if you will excuse my ridiculous use of alliteration that for some reason I just can’t help myself to include, fun I shall find myself missing the hilarity, happiness and hold on a minute there I go again with my stylistic devices. I have done with alliteration perhaps imagery can be slotted in... I find that Yew Tree is a light at the end of the tunnel that we all call Monday. You could say it is a field sewn with a million seeds, each one ready to burst into its own unique flower. It is a jewellery box of precious gems that are different every time it is opened. Looking at these descriptions, it is clear that this is all very much true. Have you ever been to a Yew Tree session that has been the same as the last? Each one has its’ own character, personality alm...

This blog could just ramble for a good strong amount of time about how wonderful you all are…The last weeks has been tiring to say the least but so very rewarding and left me “chock full” of nice things and happiness to share with you. However over the last week I’ve had a really strong sense of what I wanted to talk to you about in this blog…it’s been such a strong theme of the weeks leading up to the shows and the performances themselves…because to me the last few weeks have been all about distance travelled… Yew Tree has never been about who is better than someone else, partly because it’s entirely against our culture and values, and partly because it’s a ridiculously subjective measure anyway.   It’s about rising to the next challenge, it’s about making discoveries, it’s about gradually gaining confidence, self belief, control of your body and voice, opening up, being bold enough to try things, to stretch your creative muscles, being brave enough to invest all...

This brilliant blog is by Mel... 'Twas the night before Christmas with Yew Tree and everyone was scared,  Even though lines were learnt and everyone prepared. With over 140 people that made up our cast,   And everyone excited to perform at last. With Jack and the Beanstalk with giants so tall,  And 'Twas the night before Christmas with a mouse so small. Purple with mime so clear and perfected,  To crimson with bullies where lives were affected. Gold with Sleeping Beauty so stunning and resolute,  To green with the Grinch that stole Christmas as he climbed down the chute.   Last of all was robin hood, with the bravest and boldest of men,  With sword fights and dances, from the poor to the merry men. No better than we could of asked for an audience such as ours,  Who sat there taking everything in and playing their part for hours. So thank you yew tree for making our Christmas, we are very grateful - i ts true,  To sing and shout and a...

As she puts away her evil fairyness Natalie has blogged for us... I figured that today was the perfect day to man up and write a blog for two reasons. A.) It’s been a year since I’ve done one and B.) This week has been an absolutely amazing week for Yew Tree and therefore there is just loads to talk about. So this week has been the week of the Yew Tree Christmas Spectacular and it certainly has been a spectacle. Every single one of the performances I have witnessed over the last few days has been fabulous, all unique performances which have two main things in common, performers who share a passion for drama and a whole load of Christmas spirit. From the hilarity of Jack and The Beanstalk and The Grinch to the absolutely adorableness of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, all seven plays were fantastic. Just before I sign out of this blog, I would just like to mention the performance of Sleeping Beauty we did in Denby Dale. The audience was made up...

Sam Winder...door player extraordinaire ladies and Gentlemen... As I sit here writing this on a cold morning, writing with only one hand due to the bandage wrapped around the other, I look back and am amazed at everything Yew Tree YT has achieved this week.   I wish to congratulate everyone who took part in the performances, we saw a multitude of characters and stories which were all equally entertaining: From the Grinch - which I have to say was rather a rhyming bundle of hilarity. Well done to the Grinch with your hops, skips and dramatic... and dramatic... Grinchness. To Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, a musical delight that I couldn’t help but sing along to. And of course the performance of one of my all time favourite Christmas poems... T’was the night before Christmas. From Jack and the Beanstalk, which I daresay was the best of the whole night... but there again I was in it.   To Sleeping Beauty, a tale already weaved with a thread of... of... epic-ness. And with adde...

I'm always gladdened that people that go off to University keep in touch...Hannah is a lovely example of this happy thing... Thursday didn’t get off to the best of starts: I missed my lecture and then there was a torrential downpour and I had to sit in 3 awkwardly silent seminars. Not a good day. And then it got to 3 pm and uni was over for the week and I could get on with feeling all Christmassy, and more importantly get myself to the Yew Tree Christmas Shows to see Purple, Sapphire, Gold, Orange and Black perform!! It all kicked off with Purple doing Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer through mime. And it was brilliant; the little boy who was miming to the song was just too cool in his sparkly waistcoat. And then Sapphire did Jack and the Beanstalk with the world’s most ineffectual mum. My favourite part of that was definitely the magic beans playing the bean game. And I did fear for Jake’s life when he threw himself across the stage. He sooo nearly fell off! And then Gold ...

Today I am excited about chorus!   I know…that’s an odd thing to be excited about but I am…Why?   Because it can be really exciting…if you needed proof of this you only needed to have been there to see me jumping up and down at the end of Gold’s rehearsal this morning trying to get the energy needed in the final scene…the fairies of Sleeping Beauty are so close to being where they need to be but they could be amazing…and I want them to be amazing… Being in a chorus should be adrenaline charged, it should literally be buzzing…there should be a mutual feeding frenzy of energy, bouncing off each other, working as a unit, picking up on cues…creating tension when the story needs tension, drama when it needs drama, vitality when it needs vitality…you see where this is going?   You’ll know if you’re doing it right because it will feel as good as only true team work can feel. And so beans, market crowd, party goers, fairies, merry men, villagers, storytellers an...

Ash with a perceptive insight into our artwalk adventures this week: On Wednesday, Yew Tree was at the Hepworth gallery taking part in the Wakefield Artwalk. The evening was comprised of live Nu Folk music and original poetry, which was written and performed from scratch hourly. Essentially, we gathered the thoughts and opinions of the Hepworth and the artwork inside it from visitors that evening, and then used it create poetry, which was then performed back to the people who contributed. Im not exactly the most extrovert person so at first I found the concept of approaching members of the public a little daunting, but after a few minutes it was really enjoyable. I loved being able to have honest and intellectual conversations with people and everyone had such diverse and contrasting opinions. it was really interesting listening to what people had to say about the Hepworth, what they liked or disliked, which pieces stood out to them and why and what they think of art in general. Peop...

I’ve been ill this week as pretty much everyone who’s come into contact with me knows mainly because a) I’ve looked awful and b) moaning and complaining have seemed to be a major symptom of this particular cold…situations like this always seem to emphasize the oddity that is my job because I can’t ring in sick…don’t get me wrong I could…people (very brilliant, talented people) would cover for me…would be happy to cover for me…but I can’t do it…I’d feel as if I was missing out on too much…for example if I’d rung in sick this week I wouldn’t have been able to see Sapphire really start to put everything in place for their performance of Jack and the Beanstalk…I wouldn’t have been able to see Orange’s reaction to the Christmas decorations and tree going up in their rehearsal room, I wouldn’t have been able to shout at Black so that by the end of the rehearsal we were getting there with Robin Hood and I wouldn’t have been able to watch Sleeping Beauty blossom into the epic tale it...

And Michael wrote the second...he was press ganged but only a little bit... So today was the first run-through of Yew Tree's 2012 connections play, and even though we only did a read through of the script, people already seem to be getting to grips with thier characters, which is pretty ace... This connections is VERY exciting for me, as it will be my first time having an official part of the connentions play, (By official I mean having an actual designated role)     I have been a part of connections for the two previous years, Sparkleshark, and Shooting Truth, but I'm just so excited have a role in the actual play... To be honest I'm excited to be a part of it in any way.   Todays read-through was, how shall I put this, brilliant, just after this first session, already we have loads of different views and opinions on so many different aspects of every character, and the cast is just perfect, so many talanted young people working together on project like this is somethi...

Joanna Nicks  wrote the first blog of the week...without being press ganged...I love a voluntary blog... I buzzed off Black Company this week… here’s why: -So far I’ve found Robin Hood and my character in the play really challenging because she says so little in a situation where I’d find myself so angry that I’d want to shout. After a pretty flat and demoralising run we talked about being brave and helping other people to be brave and knowing who our character is and where they are going to and coming from. The things it made me think about meant that I spent the next run deciding why she didn’t say much- there were the obvious but general answers, but I realised I needed specifics, each time another character spoke I needed to know why she didn’t reply or save them and what she thought of that person and of what they had said and how everything affects her and her agenda. Saying less made her interesting. Every character thinks that they’re the main character and I’d forg...

Obviously this week there have been some pretty important auditions but I don’t want to concentrate on those in this week’s blog…I want to focus on something much more universal for the Youth Theatre.   In 2 weeks time over 110 performers will be doing their tech rehearsal at the Phoenix Theatre in preparation for the Christmas shows…so I thought give you some top tips for how to help yourselves and as an incidental happy thing also help your director over the next fortnight… 1.   Make sure you are utterly secure on your lines, not just that you know them but that you are so sure that no matter what curve ball you are hit with you know how to rescue the scene because you know the lines, the scenes and the play inside out and back to front…this is the way to becoming your directors favourite person in the world…this involves time and effort and should be done out loud, learning lines in your head doesn’t get it done… 2.   Make sure you understand what eve...

Mel - who now is present at three sessions a week has blogged for us... Well this week has been nothing less than hectic, but still as brilliant as ever!   Everyone has definately stepped up this week!   Orange now have the play staged, all their lines sorted, their costume sorted - but most importantly, they have their teddies sorted! You can tell they're all just going to be adorable! Black also have taken on board each comment, each week. Every single person has improved and are off script, with the exception of some slip ups that will come with confidence and time, but never the less are nothing to worry about. Characters have started to blossom which means the performance is now flowing more smoothly (and that's without music). Even though Gold have yet to have a full cast, there is tremendous effort been made to catch up and improve their characters even further - the commitment that is now being shown is such a fab thing to have at this stage in the rehearsal process ...

I’ve been all demanding and challenging in the latter part of this week – to be fair Gold and Black were the ones that really took the brunt of it…but this blog is to say I’m not sorry.  Although I still think you’re all lovely and I know that your commitment is second to none… there seemed to be a certain amount of coasting going on…a kind of innate belief that just by turning up when you were meant to and learning your lines your productions would all sort of slot into place.  You’d stopped being thinking actors…you’d stopped really stretching yourself, you’d stopped having vision, not all of you and not entirely but enough of you and to a big enough degree that it was time to draw your attention to it…so I did. I get such a kick out of watching the light bulbs go on in actors heads when they realise that the tougher you make it on yourself the better acting is…not tougher in a oh-no-I’m-so-bad-angsty-what-am-I-going-to-do sort of a way but in a, “How do I mak...

Second guest blog is a brilliant debut from Ellen and Marianne from Orange Company Orange Company 13th November 2011 In Orange we are all very excited about the Christmas production, as we know that most of the other Yew Tree companies are. We will be performing, "The Night Before Christmas," and the best bit is that we get to bring our teddies and wear pajamas for the performance which will be really fun. Everyone has been given either one two or three lines so everyone has an almost equal part to say. The first thing we did this week was play funky seaweed because the week before it was a member's birthday.  However they didn’t have the chance to play it because we ran out of time. From our experience we found out that the game is a very hazardous game! We found this out when two people got injured in the space of one minute. It was an unlucky game and guess who got hurt... our unlucky birthday member, Ellen MacCourt. But fortunately they both survive...

First guest blog is from Alice - with what is possibly the promptest delivered blog ever I love rehearsals. Hah. Good strong point to make in a blog. But it is what my blog is going to be about because on Thursday at Black company it felt like we were all suddenly ‘singing from the same hymn sheet' as my mum would say ... something changed (and yesssss obvs part of it was our ‘get yo backsides in gear black company’ speech But people seemed to be listening more to direction and each other; on stage in character and off stage creating shared histories. Tiny elements of the play started to click into place...and my complacency definitely disappeared. It reminded me of the effort required, the energy, the commitment, the time, the thought...all the things I should just put into place ALL the time. Actors who had those things in place made me jealous but inspired...this is all a bit dramatic but that’s because I was having all these thoughts under the loomi...

Beginnings are brilliant, they’re exciting and feel adventurous…they are packed full of possibilities and the feeling that it’s all to play for…this is my way of saying how giddy I am about connections 2012…having spent the weekend at the National Theatre with Danny…talking to the playwright of “Journey to X” Nancy Harris…who’s more than a little smart…I have come back with a head full of ideas and a heart full of optimism…I literally can’t wait…We’ve had so many interesting conversations about performance and realising a text and the demands on the actor to do this honestly and truthfully…I want it cast and I want to be starting rehearsals now, this minute… So yes to all those of you auditioning in LESS THAN 2 WEEKS, make sure you give your audition prep the time and thought it needs.   This play is a good play, this opportunity a good opportunity…don’t take it for granted…I only want dedicated people involved and the amount of preparation you undertake for the audit...