What's happening at YTYT

One of the trickiest aspect of my job is casting.   It’s fraught with so many potential upsets, disappointments and differences of opinion that you can absolutely guarantee it is never going to go down well with everyone.   I am always so relieved when the decisions are all made and we can get on with the process of making work. One of the inherent problems in casting is that the actors involved rarely see the process from anyone’s perspective other than their own.   This is, of course, understandable…when you express a preference for a part or audition for it there is a lot at stake.   You’ve seen something you want and you have very little control over whether you get it.   You form an attachment to the idea of it, the possibilities of you rehearsing it and performing it…it quickly becomes something of great value.   You put yourself on the line by saying you want it, you do your best to get it and the odds are almost always stacked a...

Jess has blogged this week! Black company are working on two separate performances at the moment. Shakespeare's 'Taming of the Shrew' and our own modern version 'Flawless.' I like this project as our play has similarities to one of my favourite films '10 things I hate about you.' It deals with the stereotypical people and events within a six form college and focuses on how people should do what they want to do not what they think other people expect them to do. As a company we are used to working together but it's good to be separated and have a chance to work with sarah and on our own before sharing our progress with each other. I was particularly happy when Sarah told us that the soundtrack was going to be in the style of 'the o.c' We've only just started putting both plays together but you can already tell that they're going to be really different and interesting! It will be nice to see the similarities between them both as we bring...

On Friday I went to see A Midsummer Nights Dream at Manchester Met University – performed by the third year acting students…it was an excellent evening’s entertainment – brilliantly acted by a very talented cast… Some of my favourite lines from the play are these: “The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven; And as imagination bodies forth The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing A local habitation and a name.” I am so very grateful for the fact that my day to day life is all about using my imagination…that, like the poet Theseus talks about in this speech, I am frequently employed in turning the unknown into shapes and giving airy nothing a local habitation and a name.   Sometimes this is as a writer, sometimes this is as a director…this business of making something out of nothing has as usual formed the highlights of my week… The f...

Daisy has blogged about her week Yew Tree has been lovely this week. Starting with black company on Thursday, we read through 'Flawless' for the first time and it was great listening to everyone as their characters. I really like the play and I am especially looking forward to the Halloween party scene and seeing everyone dressed up as a variety of interesting characters. Then Saturday came gold company, the session began with Charlotte, Beth, Merv and Mikey running some games due to the unfortunate absence of Sarah's voice. A personal highlight was me winning two games of funky seaweed after a determined attempt to avoid the human seaweeds (involving a painful fall). Also Beth being victorious in ninja warrior which, with her being Beth Garrard will be annoyed if I don't mention this (there you go Beth congrats on your win) We played the bean game and Merv introduced the 'touch of sass bean' which as the name hints, is very sassy. After, we began to devise ...

There’s so much going on at YTYT at the moment I’d thought I’d catch you all up as sometimes it’s hard to keep track of what’s happening in groups other than the one (or two) you’re directly involved with… And so here we go… Gold and Purple Companies will be performing this Wednesday at Not Too Shoddy an exciting arts event in Ossett which is the vision of visual artist Jason Wilsher Mills.   After that Gold will be focusing entirely on their physical theatre piece “The Sea” which is to be performed at St Austin’s theatre on the 21 st of July and will feature the immensely brilliant Stems as co collaborators. Crimson are working on a brand new musical that will be performed at the beginning of July in the drama studio at Cathedral.   Auditions and casting is complete and I’m more than excited to see the results of their creative genius. Black have a double project going on…half the group are in rehearsals for a production of Shakespeare’s Tami...

I love it when a blog pops up unexpectedly in my inbox over the weekend - so imagine my delight when Amy T sent this beauty though last night... Blogging is becoming one of my monthly Yew Tree activities so one more about Gold's dive into physical theatre wouldn't do much harm... On Wednesday, Gold company will be performing a physical theatre piece in Ossett as part of 'Not Too Shoddy', an event that really gives the town an opportunity to show how much value it really has. Not that I'm biased, being from humble Ossett and all.. But just as you will hear from some of our actors, there are so many great things and historic facts to be shared about Ossett. The piece we're performing smartly intertwines the spinning of yarn to symbolise the true craft that many workers did day in and day out, and also contains many links between the people in the piece, which highlights the community aspect of it all. Physical theatre can be tough and I've been involved in ...

Bobbie blogs about the Say the Words cast's visit to Gold At Gold this week, we were lucky enough to have a visit from the Say the Words team and, let me tell you, they were fab. The scrip, when we looked over it forever ago at Black, was already great but Dee and Mikey and Nicola were able to bring it to life in such a brilliant way and were, obviously, fantastic. I’ve watched so many Theatre in Education things where the message of the play was pushed so much that it took away from the enjoyment of actually watching it, meaning that I switched off and the message wasn’t made, even though they were trying so hard to show it. That was not the case with this one. The message was put across beautifully but in a way which wasn’t totally in your face meaning that we were able to sit back and enjoy (even if I did almost cry but shush.) I’m so so so so happy that we got to watch Say the Words this morning. It truly was fantastic (just pretend you’re in school to watch it too).

Libby's blog.... So gold was started off a little differently this week, we got a special performance of 'say the words' starring Mikey, Dee and Nicola, although it was different to a normal Saturday morning it was nice! We had a quick game of coconuts (won by Beth G and Mervy B) and then jumped straight into finishing off 'Not Too Shoddy' and making sure it is perfect for our performance on Wednesday. After being weaved around the room, we were separated into groups to devise for 'the sea' and ended up having a bellboy drowned in bags, waiters being mistaken for a band, different on board scenarios and a really bad ship crew, we then got to see the town criers that will be around on Wednesday in Ossett (if your not involved, come see us!) To finish off we all got into our blue's, red's and oranges, going through our performance of 'not too shoddy' once again, completing our pebbles on a beach, round by and throughs and Columbia hypno...

I love theatre…not a particularly surprising confession I know but a true one none the less and yesterday I was reminded about one of the principal reasons I love it. This weekend seven Yew Tree actors have been resident in Nostell Priory portraying real women who lived at or in the vicinity of the estate during World War 1.   It’s part of the Red Poppies and White Butterflies project that is ongoing at the Priory this year.   The impact of the performances we staged in the great house has been immense in a small and humble way. When I got the commission to write the script for the performance I was delighted…such a gift of an opportunity.   To soak up the history of these seven very different characters and create the words I thought they would say if they had been asked to talk about their experiences during the war was a privilege.   I thoroughly enjoyed putting fingertips to keyboard as I put my mind and heart in theirs. Weeks later the rehearsal...

Sam Winder with this weeks guest blog...always a happy event! Oscars week! BAM! BOOM! BANG! KAPANG! A statement worthy of much onomatopoeia. Yes, it was rather a delightful idea as it transpired and full of much guessing about who was dressed as who, not to mention all the duelling and re-enactments of various scenes from films. I am amazed at how everyone relished the opportunity to dress up, not something you would ever see at school… I daresay that you may have already seen photos of such things but before I begin, I would just like to applaud Sapphire Company – oh, and all the other companies - on their costume gathering skills. It was, in a word, a spectacle. So, it was after a game of Cowboys and Indians that we began work on Children’s Excursion. Apart from a bit for the Miners Memorial, I have never really done physical theatre before and so creating our little pre-show was a joy to say the least. I found it a very different way of working when compared to how we usu...

Some of our audience (and actors) expressed a wish to know what happened to the characters they met in The Wardrobe – so I thought I would oblige.   Please note some of the characters are real – they really lived…so I’ve filled you in on some of what actually happened – the fictitious ones I’ve taken literary license and just made a decision…so here goes: Over four and a half centuries, A Wardrobe stood strong. Where children found safety And an escape from the world. You know some of their stories But wanted to know more, So I’ve predicted the next chapters… What the future held in store Queen Elizabeth and Cecily Had much to look forward to, The older sister’s marriage was good Despite all the odds against. Her first-born was called Arthur But he never became a ruler, Meanwhile Cecily did get married There was no convent life for her. The Ainsley children never lost The guilt of Caryl’s death. Matilda buried herself ...

On Thursday I went to see the latest Yew Tree connections play 'The Wardrobe' and it was fantastic! Our fourth and final guest blog is a review from Yasmin For the first time since I joined Yew Tree, I went to see a connections play that I knew hardly anything about. I knew the concept but that was about it. As soon as I walked in the room I was so impressed by the transformation of the venue! The set looked so professional and it was a great idea to have it in the round. From the moment the play started I was completely engrossed in each of the characters and their stories, but at the same time I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen in the next scene. The acting from each and every one of the cast members was brilliant. Before seeing the performance I remember thinking that, as a whole, the cast seemed younger than ever and I think this may have been the key to the wonderfully brave and honest performances. I was absolutely blown away by Merv and...

And our third from a cast member is from Amy W After three nights of performances, I’m feeling just a bit tired but, most of all, proud. Of everyone else and myself. The distance everyone has travelled since we auditioned four months ago is incredible: Beth and Leah have learnt how to be regal and queenly with and without the aid of fake blood; Sam, Bobbie and Tom did murdered Holly. Amy O did an amazing job of picking up a role she didn’t start out with; Daisy and Amy were great at making fun of their friend; Merv taught Shelbie a new language; Amy O performed a heart wrenching monologue; Ellen and Libby were the masters of accents; Bobbie was enthralled in a news article about Jack the Ripper and Beth and Amy T were great at making fun of her; Tom and Lavanya made a brilliantly grown up marriage; Merv created Narnia in our wardrobe and Shelbie used great comic timing; Courtney reassured her friend and Georgia gave a fantastic performance about modern issues; Toni and Grace were th...

Our second from Beth Connnections week has been and gone and what a week it has been. Together we have laughed, cried, sung, danced and snapped enough selfies for a lifetime. But first, back to the beginning... While initially the idea of taking part in Connections was a daunting one it was somewhat reassuring to know that for the majority of the cast it was their first time too. Giving up every Saturday afternoon plus the entirety of half term seemed like a massive commitment at the time, but actually now it's over my week seems quite empty without that extra session. It seems like such a long time ago that we all helped choose the play, and fortunately we got our first choice as I am so confident that it was the right decision. The play turned out to be so perfect for our cast I can't imagine what it might have been like if we had chosen differently. After we auditioned for and received our parts the regular rehearsals commenced. It was tough but incredibly rewa...