(No) Lazy summer days...

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These summer weeks of August are meant to be our down time at Yew Tree Youth Theatre but this week has been anything but…

For a start there was the ice challenge…thanks for that Emma…when I got the nomination my first instinct was to bottle it and then I realized I needed to commit…this realization came with the knowledge that I could only do it if I stood side by side with Gemma…luckily at the same time I thought this a ext came through to suggest that we did do just that…sometimes the unthinkable is possible standing side by side with someone you trust…

Monday saw us devising our socks off for our performance at the Hepworth at their Art Party.  It was lovely to be back in the room with 12 brilliant, creative and generally delightful minds plus a special guest and the piece we made reflected what is at the heart of Yew Tree.  You can see the final rehearsal here…

It was important to be part of the event as it was a plea that the arts don’t become sidelined in our education system…or should I say continue to be sidelined…there are a lot of things that need to be fought for but this is one of the ones I feel passionate about…I’m surrounded by people who have benefitted from creative opportunities…who are better people with a better chance of success because they have been able to develop their creativity and all the portable, transferable skills, confidence and mind of their own that comes with it.  The opportunity to be creative shouldn’t be a luxury in education it should be the backbone…without it the next generation won’t have what they need to write the next chapter…

And what about our next chapter…today I’ve finished writing Alice in Wonderland – not strictly YTYT business as I’m writing it and directing it for West Yorkshire Theatre Dance Centre – but our two organizations are so symbiotically linked there’s no doubt that this production will have a strong connection to Yew Tree.  The show will take over six months to stage…a real labour of love, hard work and dedication…from the professionals, students and parents involved…I’m really looking forward to it…now it’s done I need to sort out the casting, scripts and rehearsals for Plays and Pints 2014 as that will be performed in less than a month…

And next week…in addition to Plays and Pints next week is all about casting…for Sapphire and Gold, finding my copy of The Grinch for Orange and Jade, choosing the Connections script, thinking about possibilities for Black company and generally getting our house in order…it’s all about to kick off…


As a final thought I received an unexpected message today from someone I’ve never met thanking me for doing what I do…it made my day…so if there is someone you appreciate and you haven’t told them recently let them know and make their day too…it makes a lovely change from the demands and problems to solve…

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