What's happening at YTYT

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...

How brilliant that when the Youth Theatre has been a little quiet and therefore there isn't much in the way of guest bloggers that Mel's Dad steps up to the challenge... Hey Yew Tree!   Great Halloween Treat you put on at Nostell last week.   I went expecting to be startled and scared.   It wasn’t startling… just really creepy.   And I’m guessing that isn’t easy to act out .   So well done!   Amazing talent as ever! The problem I have is that when I watch these performances it always starts me thinking…very dangerous I know!!!   And this time it got me thinking about our motivation for doing “stuff”, how we can keep interested in doing “stuff” for, and how we deal with “stuff” when we can’t do it any longer. I could go on for hours about this, but you want me to keep this blog interesting right??   So here’s just a few lines about four stages you might want to think about when you need to make decisions about “stuff” to do with your...