What's happening at YTYT

The lovely thing about this time of the year is that we get lots of new starters.   I think it’s a lot to do with the dawn of a new year.    Young people (or sometimes their parents) make good on their thoughts about trying something new, becoming more creative or confident by putting thoughts into action.   Whatever the reason we’ve had new starters to the tune of ten or more in the last two weeks…the smallest of whom was 5 and the tallest 22 and its gladdened my heart to meet them all. I’m always so impressed by the bravery people exhibit when they walk into a room full of strangers unsure of what is going to be expected of them.   It takes a lot to step into the fray like this…I’m always so hopeful that people think it was worth it.   The new starters at Gold were doubly challenged this week when for the first time since we launched YTYT 19 years ago I had to call 999 at a session for someone who had dislocated their knee!   Luckily po...

Merv, with some thoughts about The Nutcracker which although not strictly a YTYT production was written by Sarah and has many YTYT actors in it so it is definitely closely related! I am involved in The Nutcracker which is mostly known as a dance performance, but you’ll be glad to know that not only does it involve great choreographed dances but it has a great narrative acting content. I can tell this performance will be wonderful, full of laughter and surprises; I was shocked to see how many of the dancers had hidden acting talents and to see them grow into greater actors/actresses is something great to witness and must be credited! It’s only 2 weeks away now until we perform and it feels too soon to let it go, but at the same time I can’t wait to show what we have done, and how far everyone has come in terms of acting and dancing. All of the dances look amazing and now that we have most of the costumes it really does transport you into the world of ‘The Land of Sweets’ Oh, and if ...

Georgia with some thoughts about Gold Saturdays in general are quite hectic, last saturday included a really good physical theatre workshop, Beth Gerrard rewriting a leaflet so she was featured in it, at Connections rehearsals we made time lines for our characters and experienced our characters day, and then we all went home. Waited a week. And started again. Only this week had one difference meaning we missed having Sian in gold, however after we heard she was okay and everything was back to 'normality' games were played and letters were made! More progress was made with Connection including playing budge! All in all two great saturdays minus the injuries!

This week my week at Yew Tree has contained many delights…at Sapphire we did improvisation joyously.   I don’t need to say much more about that as we have twin blogs that will do it much more justice than I could, (although I will just congratulate the new starters who jumped in with both feet and acquitted themselves wonderfully well, I was more than impressed.)   Then Jade – our newest company took some giant steps towards maturity with a couple of new starters and what I believe to be their best session yet.   On Thursday the first Orange session of the year took place again with new starters in amongst the very lovely faces of the usual crowd.   The colour given to Orange is more than apt as they are the sunshiniest group, in the same way that Sapphire are full of sparkle but utterly classy, so to be back playing and making with them was a treat.   Other companies presented me with just as much inspiration as the range of specialist subjects...

Sam W is our other blogger of the week... Greetings! It has been a while since I have blogged and with all the opportunities to do so I feel as if I have been doing a disservice, especially since writing the odd blog is rather an enjoyable experience. So, a quick summary of Sapphire company this Monday. Now, I must say that improvisation is hardly something I feel comfortable with. When I heard that is what we were doing, I had the little devil on my shoulder whispering into my ear about how disastrous it could be and how wrong it could go. A weakness of mine is most certainly my need for some sort of plan before I do anything. For that reason, I decided that a session on improvisation would do me no end of good and I should pull my act together. We started with a quick Magic Box sesh. Pulling things from the front of your mind rather from its depths, it transpired, is the key to coming up with things quickly and smoothly and very often humorously. So, come...

Amy W with our first blog: Here’s a question for you all. What happens if you get a room of confident, bubbly and slightly weird bunch of, as Sarah might call us, ridiculous creatures and tell them they can do whatever they can make up on the spot? The answer is: sapphire company’s session on improvisation.   I have to say that I was already quite excited for the session. Improvisation is something which I enjoy. I love thinking on my feet. I know others weren’t so sure but, in the end, I think everyone had a good time.   We started by walking around and learning the names of the new members of the company, who did really well in the mists of such a big group of people. Next came a game of magic box, in which I received the generous gift of Venus, and a game of yes and, where my new friend Mel and I went on a strange adventure. We also played a more adventurous game of yes that involved acting out our story. This I enjoyed. Where else can a teenager roll across the floor and...

This week I was big and brave and went to speak at a conference…it was all about the new primary curriculum and it’s purpose was to give inspiration to the head teachers who will have to make the theory coming out of government house a reality in the classroom… So there I was in a conference suite in York, stood in front of 120 head teachers – a daunting sight at the best of times…even more daunting when you know it’s your job to engage them for 30 minutes.   The temptation to run away was strong but I didn’t and a lot of you are partly to thank for that.   I didn’t run away because I was there to champion the arts as a valuable tool for education.   I knew with a certainty that the arts can unlock people’s potential, can inspire them to want to learn and can give them the confidence to grow into the best versions of themselves.   That certainty gave me the courage to stand my ground, find my voice and talk to the assembled audience about wha...

Another great day with Yew Tree by Grace Sanders Gold companies first session back was great as always, we focused on an array of techniques of physical theatre as we are working in a piece called The Sea and strengthening our physical theatre techniques can give us a larger range on what we can do to set the scene. I noticed that different ways of how minuscule things such as a flick of your wrist or pointing your toe can impact on the scene. The great thing about Yew Tree is that we can work together comfortably and great team effort is needed, which not to boast, but we're great at. Also if you work with the music to give you inspiration for your next move it can make everything fall into place easier, like a guideline. We ended our session with performing our pieces we created in a group together basing our actions on one thing and what it could connote to. Later on in the afternoon connections was all slotting together as a start. All of the scenes are being performed amazi...

Yew Tree Youth Theatre has been very much up and running this week – not with the regular sessions some start this week (Jade and Black) with everyone back starting from the 11 th of Jan – I’ve still been knee deep in rehearsals for Connections and also for West Yorkshire Theatre Dance Centre’s performance of The Nutcracker which I’ve written and am directing.   However I have had my head in the strange and wonderful business of preparing for the new term so I wanted to share with you my thoughts on that: It’s about planning projects, choosing what to focus on, Listening to whispers and rumblings, wishes and regrets. Spending time supposing, scribbling, scrabbling and sketching, Writing things down, rubbing them out, rewriting them again Reading, revelling, reminiscing and responding Imagining, mulling, deciding, adapting. Discussing and discovering, deliberating and discarding. There’s decisions on dates and details…there are still gaps… But there are al...

Toni is part of Connections Company as a stage crew member Hi, it's Toni here! A crew member for this year's connections! I hope everyone's had a great Christmas, New Year and enjoyed their time off. We, the connections group, however, were lucky to have a rehearsal while all other things Yew Tree were taking a festive break. Last Sunday, we had our first full day rehearsal for this years connections play: The Wardrobe, which is fantastic, by the way! With a lot of lines learned and not many scripts, we got to see each scene on it's feet for the first time. Although we didn't see the entirety of some scenes, we saw how much they have come together since we first started in November. The Wardrobe is different from your usual play; each scene has it's own era, plot and characters, which makes it really interesting to watch! They're also always set in the same place but the different time eras and purposes of the wardrobe make the props a...

After writing my own in the last blog I asked for other people’s highlights of YTYT in 2013 and these are the responses… Bobbie-Leigh Meadows - Just one highlighttttt? Okay...I'm going with three.... I’m gonna go with 1) Doing the stuff at Wakefield Theatre because that was when me and Beth Garrard properly bonded and I don't know what life would be like without her now. 2) Joining Black. I had admired Black from ever since I started Green all those years ago and being able to be part of it just makes me so happy. And 3) 'The Party at the End of the World'- I absolutely love it. To this date it is George Withington 's favourite Yew Tree play and Grace was/is one of my absolutely favourite Characters I've played. I absolutely fell in love with her! This year in Yew Tree has been one of my favourite years ever!
 WAIT! Can I add another one? BECAUSE HALLOWEEN WAS ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT THINGS EVEN IF I WAS ABSOLUTELY EXHAUSTED BY THE END OF IT!
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