What's happening at YTYT

One of the things that I enjoy about performances that Yew Tree Youth Theatre create or get involved with is that we don’t stick to traditional spaces.   This afternoon and this evening Yew Tree Youth Theatre actors will join other Wakefield actors in a performance at Sandal Castle.   “Castle of Dreams” is born out of the words of young people of Wakefield some as young as 4 years old, gleaned in creative workshops in schools, youth theatre sessions and at The Orangery.   I enjoy lots of things about this project but perhaps my favourite is that the words of children and young people, words full of imagination and playfulness are performed by adults.   It creates a fascinatingly different kind of text that makes you think about the words in a different way.   The production invites the audience to tap into the memories and resonances in the centuries old stones that have seen the castle at war, in celebration, as a centre of power and defeated.   It also explores the more ethereal

And the second blog is by Amy W During the summer holidays, a group of writers from Yew Tree did some writing workshops for a project called "Castle of Dreams" in which a group of actor take audiences from Westgate Train Station, to Sandal Castle on a word walk. Tonight, my brother and I took the opportunity to form part of the audience for a rehearsal. The performance began, as all good performances do, by a tour guide on a coach teaching us a little bit about about the castle. I learnt a lot. For example, did you know that Shakespeare actually designed the interior of Sandal Castle? Or that aliens built it? I certainly didn't. Upon reaching the Castle, a few more members of our little audience joined us and our quirky tour guides handed out swords before marching us around the moat. We paused a few times to listen to some speeches from the point of view of some of the staff, with Sam and I elbowing each other when we recognised any of the writing. We crossed the

With a European flavour Yasmin is our first guest blogger... So last Saturday I went to the local theatre here in Ourense (Galicia) to see a play called Jamming.   My host family told me that the play was touring from Madrid and that it had had a very good response so far.   Jamming is completely improvised using suggestions from the audience which means that every show is different. When I arrived at the theatre I was given a card and told to write a Spanish phrase on it and to take it into the auditorium with me.   My Spanish isn’t great and I spent a while umming and arring about what to write.   Eventually I put ‘Soy de Inglaterra y no entiendo mucho espanol’ (I’m from England and I don’t understand much Spanish).   I then made friends with the man next to me and asked him to check my card for any mistakes as I didn’t want to embarrass myself. The performance started with one of the three actors coming on stage, introducing herself and explaining that there would be a

Today was a great day…we were once again in the wonderful halls of Nostell Priory telling the stories of the people who lived in and around Nostell at the start of World War 1.   Five actors portrayed mothers and sons, husbands and brothers and told their stories…stories about fears, discomfort, endurance, resilience, loss and hope.   They told the stories well and visitors to the house listened equally well…relationships were formed between actor and audience and between present and past.   In those moments a bridge was built between now and history that taught us something about ourselves and those that came before us… Today is also a sad day, over the last 18 months a little bit of my heart and head has walked with the Winn family and their neighbours and although their stories will never leave me today is the last time I’ll get to tell them to others…I’ve loved finding out about them…discovering new nuggets of information…consider what it was to live in a world

And Amy W is our second guest blogger This morning (or rather Saturday morning), was one in which I spent rehearsing Twelve Dancing Princesses with gold company. We warmed up playing Killer 12 (oh and thanks a lot Toni and Ellen), Ninja Warrior and Captain Beaky, in which I managed to bruise my knees on the floor trying to reach the wall for the 999 rule. We also had a new starter, Abbey Lee (I’m not sure how to spell it), who managed very well in a room of very confident and, admittedly, slightly hyperactive teenagers. We worked on scenes five, six and seven for the first time, as well as going over the earlier parts of the play, which is very good progress for the third rehearsal. For me, the highlights of the session include: Leah’s nervous giggle before she said “Surely not.”; Libby taking a selfie to charm Prince Casper; Matthew’s fantastic speech in the woodland scene which, not only, was done without a script but was also pretty well done for a first rehearsal. All in all,

It's always good when a parent blogs...here is Yana as our first blogger... Taking Beth to Sapphire Company every Monday evening makes the start of my week great. As the car journey starts Beth chatters quickly about her school day,   as we reach our destination her conversation turns to Sapphires Christmas performance, how each of her friends play a role, how they come together and connect with each other through the greatly written script. This for me is so exciting I am like a child at Christmas, from the moment I put the date in my diary to performance night the tension builds like a firework ready to go off. I often wonder what she does in those two hours on a Monday evening, but as she comes out of those double glass doors I can see instantly that she has had a great time, the twinkle in her eye and the smile on her face says it all. All the way home Beth talks about what games they have played, how the rehearsal for the Christmas performance is coming on and how each ch

This afternoon Yew Tree had the pleasure of performing at Taproom Theatre’s event Plays and Pints…it was the result of a three year relationship with the organisation who strive to put quality theatre into pubs and who do the exceptionally important job of supporting Wakefield artists by giving them a platform to promote their work.   Special thanks to Paul Bateson who even with a cold was the best host and looked after us beautifully. Our contribution consisted of three pieces of theatre involving 15 actors associated with Yew Tree.   The plays were linked by their portrayal of things that are happening to people every day that feel anything but ordinary when they happen to us…the things that bind us together and set us apart…Every performance was excellent and included such a range of characters; from the affable student and hard faced bar maid that kicked everything off to the raw, grief ridden son who had said goodbye to his mother and the love of his life on the same day – th

Sam Winder is our guest blogger - always a joy Recently, to reflect upon each day, I started a diary. However, tonight, instead of an entry I intend to write a blog for a number of reasons: - Today was an utter shambles - The only thing worth writing about was Sapphire - The above is rather useful as guest blogs are a weekly necessity. So, instead of wallowing in self pity, I have decided it would be more constructive to write about Sapphire Company in all its wonderfulness. Now, perhaps the exasperation that I tried to demonstrate in the opening of my blog was enough to show you how much of a relief it was to return to Sapphire this week. With the first few days of school behind me being reunited with everyone was a joy. Gee and I had a little conversation upon my arrival about our usual topics (which I will not bore you with) then Brittany and I greeted each other in a typically bold fashion before I explained to Grace the thought process behind the choosing of my new de

Oh my word…the start of term is a joy! Already the YTYT world is vibrant with the sights and sounds of games, read throughs and creative discussion…the Christmas shows are on their way – so anyone who hasn’t put the 10 th and 11 th of December in their diary clearly doesn’t know how to celebrate the festive season properly…there is such an energy at the beginning of term – meeting up after so much time apart…ready to make something memorable for the companies and for their audience… In addition this time next week we will have just finished our Plays and Pints performances with many senior and graduated YTYT actors taking part in this brilliant…FREE…event – if you’re aged 16 and above and fancy some entertainment next Sunday afternoon you should be at Boons at 12.45…you won’t be disappointed. And then there is tomorrow – tomorrow will be great because tomorrow will host the first Sapphire session – I personally cannot wait…

Georgia is our guest blogger WE ARE BACK! Finally we have returned to our weekly sessions, and it is an exciting return as we are all starting preparation for the Christmas shows! I was delighted to hear the casting and the fact that me and Beth Garrard could spread some sass together, give Courtney a break for once! Being double cast has proved fairly interesting as although we have only done a couple of read throughs I could really tell that each cast was going to put a different spin on their performance and on how they portrayed the characters, I can't wait until we get to costume runs as well (spoiler alert) there will be lots of sparkles! And yet more excitement....I can't wait to see how we create a dance piece, although i am *cough* I mean collings and Jenny are gutted single ladies won't be making an appearance however i'm sure that whatever we come up with will be thousands of times more creative and original! Coming back to YTYT has brightened up my Satu