Cadence...

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You only need to read these blogs reasonably frequently to know that Yew Tree Youth Theatre are almost consequently building up to, in the middle of or recovering from a performance of some description.  This means that I am doing the same… All of these performances are special in some way – they’re all about young people being excellent…but some of them are really very special…

Remember the Oaks qualifies as just that…commissioned by the NUM it is a play that tracks the 150 years since 361 miners lost their lives in England’s worst mining disaster.  It’s a play about the community that had to carry on in the midst of all that grief.  It’s a play about how important it is to remember the legacy of a communities past and it’s a play about belonging and hope and integrity.  There’s a little romance, a fair amount of loss and there’s a lot of bravery…it’s a play about the best and worst of persevering through life’s challenges.

We performed it yesterday to the most generous of audiences…an audience who entirely got the ambition of the play and valued it highly.  It connected with them because it was a play about their community and their rich heritage.  We shared the stage with Kitty – the woman who has come to represent the Remember the Oaks campaign…a beautiful sculpture created by Graham Ibbeson who was laden with even more compliments than we were.  I was immensely proud of what we created and immensely honoured to be part of something so important…


The only sad thing about the day was the final words of the script were overtaken by the enthusiastic applause of the audience…as a writer I was a little sad that I didn’t get the cadence I wanted – utterly, ridiculously pretentious I know…however all is not lost…the organizers of the event called today to say they thought it was so good they want to host another performance – no bigger compliment I’d say - so I get to have my complete script performed and if you missed it you get a second chance to see it…we’ll keep you informed of the details as they emerge!

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