A gift of a Saturday...

-
Yesterday was a glorious youth theatre day…I have to admit it didn’t have the most auspicious start as I’m sure the members of Gold Company would agree.  Still I like to think we brought a bit of life to the Eastmoor estate as we played Killer 12 in front of the community centre.  I remarked at the time to the company and then later that afternoon to my family that a lesser group of young people would have let the circumstances get to them…not Gold Company – there was no unruliness or rebellion and despite the inclement temperature there wasn’t even any complaining…

Before too long we were in the rehearsal room and straight away we were fully absorbed in Christmas show rehearsals.  Over the two and a half hours that followed the whole cast worked so hard.  The result?  The massive achievement of finishing the dance that represents the ball where our 12 Dancing Princesses ruin their shoes and exhaust themselves every night.  The spontaneous cheer that went up when the last notes of the music played and we reveled in the fact that we had got it done swept me out of the room and onto my Saturday evening with a sense of accomplishment and joy…all that and we managed to tidy up the final scenes and have cake – happy birthday Rhiannon by the way. Also as a special treat I was able to look into Crimson rehearsals – just very briefly – Sleeping Beauty looks like it’s going to be a treat.

The gifts of Saturday were not over – after a brief break during which like a geek I revised vocal exercises – I had the joy of the first “proper” Hacktivist rehearsal after the joyous read through last week.  Inspiration for rehearsals can come from anywhere and on this occasion the inspiration came from Simon Winder, generous Dad of Amy and Sam who provided us with a wealth of discarded computery type stuff.  Watching the cast first play with it, then build their world of a hackerspace, then bring that world to life with the dialogue of the play was brilliant.  There was definitely a sense of the cast stepping into the role of a Connections company as they engaged with vocal technique maturely and with curiosity.  The two hours flew by and the progress made was significant – it certainly bodes well for the production as a whole.


I returned home at 7pm entirely happy with the day and grateful for the sheer happy creativity of my Saturdays…the sense of achievement making the whole day feeling exceptionally worthwhile.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Celebrating the past in the present...

-
  Next year Yew Tree Youth Theatre will be 30 years old.   We haven’t quite decided how we will celebrate - any suggestions would be gratefully received. No doubt there will be some nostalgic perambulating down memory lane and some haphazard but joyous celebrating of three decades of creativity we have shared.   Some variation of those two themes would feel fitting. This blog however is something different. This blog is a celebration of the present of those who attended YTYT in the past. Alumni, graduates, previous members – I can never seem to find the right term – but whatever word is chosen I know for sure they are part of the fabric of the youth theatre and I’m grateful to have known all of them, mainly because I have learnt so much from them.   I also can’t put a number on how many people have spent significant time with YTYT over the last 29 years.   I know we started with a group of 8 and now have about 80 members, I know at our peak just before COVID w...
Read more

Yew Tree Youth Theatre. 2024 - Fred

-
What a year (That's a good thing, by the way). My favourite shows, my favourite rehearsals, my favourite year; so you can hopefully gather that I've enjoyed it all.  But in all reality, my blog should start in 2023, as National Theatre Connections began then.  I had been cast, along with Izzy, in the role of Noush, which quickly I became attached to. As the rehearsal process continued into the year of 2024, I only grew to like the role even more. Kiss/Marry/PushOffCliff - as the play was called - soon shaped up to be a fantastic show. The year before (I know, this is meant to be 2024, but everything, after all, is interconnected) I'd shown interest in NT Connections but had shied away, thinking I was not capable enough for such a task. This time, however, I was prepared - or brave, or optimistic, or however you could describe it - and chose to take part. It was indeed the right decision. Never before from a show had I received such enjoyment, even from rehearsals. Every tim...
Read more

Robin's Connections Blog

-
 Kiss / Marry / Push off a cliff was my second connections play that I have done with YTYT. As soon as I read it, I fell in love with the script. Although it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, it drew me in with its pure weirdness and mystery. I was so intrigued as to how we would tackle many of the problems that were initially presented to us. After all, showing someone getting pushed off a cliff while inside of a sleeping bag in a youth theatre production isn’t a simple task. However, with the combined effort of an equally talented crew and cast, I believe we were able to do a pretty good job. I could ramble all day about how much I love characters as a whole. In truth, they are what drew me to connections in the first place. I love being able to delve into their motivations and fears in detail and develop a whole other being rather than myself. I remember there was one character that stood out to me in my first reading. I knew from the start that Marco would be a tricky character. B...
Read more