Black Company's Hannah Mullen...
First blog post, go easy on me Yew Tree readers.
After a few years of watching and supporting Yew Tree and
their many brilliant productions, I recently I have had my nights free to
finally give it a go. Not regretting it one bit…yet. I was apprehensive about
my first session at Black Company but was welcomed by the enthusiastic and
lovely Sarah (she paid me to write that) and the friendly Yew Tree members.
After being introduced to ‘Best and Worst’, a task that
involves us racking our brains to remember what exciting or unexciting things
we have got up to in the week, the time had then come to act, and a daunting
prospect it was. I have often been asked and told by other people that all we
thespians do is embody trees in drama, and every time I make sure I reply, with
a deadpanned face, “no” as if that was the most foolish thing to have ever come
out of their mouths. So, in the first session of Black Company, what was I asked
to do? Become a tree. Yep…I showed them. In spite of that, of course, without
much hesitation I created a tree and I didn’t feel too foolish especially when
everyone around me was doing the same. Since then, I have quite enjoyed this
part of the show as our branches twist and interlink to make quite an intricate
and layered forest image.
The thing that has most struck about Black Company is the
lack of judgement in the room as we rehearse for Red Riding Hood. I don’t have
the fear of doing wrong whether it is choreographing movement for a piece of
the script we have been tasked with, or improvising as we fling ourselves across
the room (my personal favourite). Everyone is genuinely kind and respectful and
that has made me really look forward to it every week.
Just an insight into some of the things we have been doing
in Black Company, of course not forgetting our weekly games of lists, ninja and
funky seaweed. With the image of us aimlessly chopping at each other’s arms and
legs for the title of Ninja warrior, I bid you farewell.
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