Excellent People...

-
Earlier in the year than ever before it was the directors weekend for National Theatre Connections – this is the point in the year when I get to spend time in London, meet the writer of our selected play and try and fit in as many other things as possible while I’m there.   At first I was going to reflect on the events and experiences of the weekend as my blog but as the weekend progressed it became clear that the excellent people I have met, or in some cases interacted with on a slightly less personal level, have been the biggest influence on my weekend so instead I am going to write about them instead…

So first off on this meet and greet is Ai Weiwei…Chinese contemporary artist who I first came across in, “Hacktivists,” the connections play we did last year and then again with his work on Alcatraz when we visited earlier this year.  He literally took my breath away with his installation of trees in the courtyard of the Royal Academy of Art.  The trees are made up of huge dead branches Weiwei finds and brings down from the Chinese mountains and they are beautiful – from a distance they look natural but then a closer look shows just how constructed they are…just genius…I’m appreciating Ai Weiwei for vision and tenacity.

Ai Weiwei was also responsible for bringing myself and my next person of the weekend together as my instagraming of pictures of his trees alerted Duncan of my presence in London.  Duncan was the best man at our wedding and a friend of many, many years but because of the long distance between where we live we seldom get to see him – turns out he’d been at the trees in the courtyard 20 minutes before me and so we were able to meet up for chats and ice cream.  A familiar face in a big city is a wonderful thing so Duncan is appreciated for friendliness and generosity – after all the ice creams were on him…

That evening found me at the Savoy Theatre watching the truly brilliant Imelda Staunton in Gypsy…Oh. My. Word.  I’d heard how good she was but only seeing was believing – to be fair the whole production is a poignant joy but she was stunning – so much flair, sheer talent, storytelling and truth…I was in tears and raptures at the same time.  Truly remarkable theatre and a privilege to witness.  Another thing that struck me was the genuine appreciation of our response to her performance…so Imelda gets my award for being a person of humility and inspiration award for a night of theatre I will never forget…

Saturday brought with it the prospect of a day with Simon Armitage – poet, playwright and erstwhile probation officer…but also as it turns out a man full of wit, wisdom and willingness to accommodate all the ideas a room full of directors of his play might throw at him.  His thoughtfulness was remarkable and by the end of the day I was both informed and inspired enough to really look forward to directing “Eclipse” in November.  Simon gets my award for his humour and love of ambiguity, which in no way should ever be an excuse for being vague.

Moving apace to Sunday, a Sunday that featured three more excellent people.  The first of which was Tricia Gordon – now anyone who has been to Kendal with us as part of our Connections journey will know Tricia as an everyday hero…the warmth with which she greets us at The Brewery Arts Centre is second to none and even when not on home territory her first concern at the National was to ensure I was cared for and accommodated.  Talking to her about next April’s visit immediately engendered a sense of anticipation and future happiness and so Tricia is included in this blog for her general warmth and wonderfulness which is not really a word but I’m having it anyway.

My penultimate excellent person was Lyndsey Turner – a director at the National Theatre and on this occasion given the dubious task of running a directors master class for a huge group of people, many of whom think they know how to do it anyway.   She presented something clear, well structured and on a level that made it accessible to anyone.  I found her engaging and unpretentious and left the master class with more knowledge than I had arrived with, which is always a joy – Lyndsey earns her place in this blog for her practicality and insight.

The final excellent person I enjoyed my time in London with was the very lovely Yasmin Taheri who in addition to being generally brilliant was full of tales of RADA and learning and living in London and so my final excellent people award goes to her for being both resilient and remarkable…it was also just a genuine pleasure to spend time with her…


So there you go – a snapshot of my weekend full of people of vision, tenacity, friendliness, generosity, humility, inspiration, humour, ambiguity, warmth, wonderfulness, practicality, insight, resilient and remarkable people and that makes me very lucky…the thing is working with YTYT I get to spend time with people like that every week…the luck just keeps rolling in!!

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