What's happening at YTYT

  I'll be honest: I can't really remember most of 2021 without looking back at pictures or videos to help spur on some form of memory. If you've been inside my head for the last couple of months, you'll know why that is but I am going to try my very hardest to go back and reminisce on another weird year of Yew Tree Youth Theatre.     First thing that happened: Witches Can't Be Burned. I think as a cast we were all very skeptical of this play and how we would be able to transform it to be stage ready. After multiple online rehearsals though and the weirdest Connections Week I've ever had, we did it. I played Grace, the bullied hockey girl, and whilst the part was definitely fun to play it was also the biggest step outside of my comfort zone I've ever had to take. Grace's life and my life shared some very personal details and it was hard to almost live through something all over again after trying my hardest to forget about it. But thanks to Sarah and the ...

  So, 2021 at Yew Tree; where do I even begin? For starters, “Hello” this is ‘Past Connor’ writing to you for like the ninth time by this point (I’ve done a lot of these). 2021 was unlike any other year at YT, as you can imagine, with shows almost being cancelled because of covid, plays being rehearsed online & in person (one was significantly better than the other) and a Christmas Show that was teched plus performed on the same day. Needless to say, things have been interesting. January arrived (as did another Lockdown) and after Black Company’s performance of ‘Neverland’ we moved onto a 1920s style Murder Mystery dubbed, ‘When Those Few Gather’. What was special about this show is it was all going to be devised and written by Black Company over many Zoom sessions before finally being brought to life in the summer with a few in-person rehearsals. It was quite an ambitious project! Every member of the company brought their own ideas to the table and while there were some debate...

  “I love Gold!” I’m told every Friday night when I become her personal taxi driver to and from Ossett. It’s always quiet on the way there, perhaps just a bit of mumbled singing to whatever she’s playing through her headphones. But it’s always, “I love Gold!” on the way home. If she ever forgot to tell me (she never does) her Cheshire Cat grin would let me know.     She’s been coming to Yew Tree Youth Theatre since the dawn of time. There are times when she has arrived home from work or college completely exhausted from a long week’s work, but there’s always enough fuel left in the tank for Gold Company. Her grandad spent most of his life involved with theatre activities. Whether it was acting, producing writing or indeed running drama groups, it was all done just for the love of it and what it could achieve - especially for younger people. He would be chuffed to bits to see what she has achieved through Yew Tree’s myriad of activities.    This year saw her taki...

  Ben (and family’s) Poem   Young people  Branching out  Blossoming  Layla’s Blog 2021 hasn’t been the best year, but it’s been one to remember. First was blood in the water, we wrote the play, and I got to do with my some of my best friends. Then it was Witches, I learnt I lot from doing that play, how to skateboard and got to use a sword, so overall a really good experience. Then I took part in a miners performance, after a year of no miners, I was happy to do one again. Then a Peter Pan, playing Tink was so fun and one of favourite rolls for awhile. Rehearsals for connections have been great so far, the best part is getting a new character to play and finding your own way to play them. So 2021, not the best year, but some many great memories to share and bring on 2022!!

This year at Yewtree has been the most important one for me so far. It has been a solid foundation of support and growth for me, especially since the start of the new academic year. In the summer, after receiving unjust and disheartening A Level results, due to the impact of Covid, despite all my hard work; I, firstly, cried and then went on a night out with my mates, but secondly, and most importantly, made the courageous decision to take a gap year. My results gave me the biggest push and brightest sign I could be given to fully throw myself into my acting and pursue it professionally. Something I didn’t think I would “realistically” do, and something I always thought I would keep as a hobby in my life and let it go no further. Yet I realised that ever since I was a little girl, performance had always been there - and it would not go away, no matter how hard I focused on other things. So at the start of September, after having a discussion with Sarah I told her “Throw everything that...

  I really didn’t think this day would come so soon. I was ready to accept another gap year but then I got a recall and then I got a place?! Like what?? I’m leaving yew tree a completely different person to who I started as. A person that young me would be so amazed and proud of now. I wasn’t a very confident person, but there were certain shows that I performed in that definitely coaxed me out of my shell.     The first being, Connections 2018 Ceasefire Babies. What an experience? My first ever connections and this being the show that Yew Tree Youth Theatre got to take down to London to perform at the National Theatre Connections Festival. It really was an experience I’ll next forget, getting to perform in a working theatre with such a brilliant team around us. I know that the cast will remember me being the most touristy Brit possible, pictures of everything and I know it drove you all mad (I can feel you all rolling your eyes) but I just wanted to remember every tiny d...

So .... i didn't think I would be writing this so soon. It doesn't feel like I should be leaving but I guess it is time so let's finally write about it all. I started yew tree when I was 15 so I was quite late to the parade but I never felt like i got put low on the list for opportunities. I managed to join two companies, write, photograph, do exams and summer schools all because of yew tree. And I won't lie, it was extremely tough sometimes. But I never felt like I wanted to quit. I learned how to carry on because I was doing what I loved to do. But that never stopped me from knowing when too much was too much. It's something I learned here too. How to know when to say I need a break and that's something I never had before. And that's because yew tree isn't about churning out actors. It's about learning to look after yourself and learn everyday life skills not just drama. And that's because we have the best director we could ask for.  Getting to...

  Well 10+ years of Yew tree is at an end and the only word I have is, surreal. I don’t quite know whether to feel sad, overwhelmed, grateful, inspired, or all the above. It’s a whole chapter of my life that I’m stepping away from. It feels like I am making a huge mistake because surely it cannot be over, 30 odd shows, countless friends made and infinite perfect moments shared over the years, all wrapped up in one last hurrah. It is hardly the end of me being a yew tree’er because once you are a part of the family, you always are, so in reality, it will never leave me. Seeing new generations take what I’ve loved for so many years and loving it the exact same way I always have is something special and irreplaceable to me. So, I will never loose anything of what Yew Tee has shown me and hopefully the memories and experiences will help carry me forward in the future. While I don’t intend to study drama, I endeavour to continue in any capacity I can, perhaps at uni when I get there. Th...

  I genuinely wasn’t expecting this day to come so quickly, or to even write this blog so I’m going to try to write it without crying. Wow. 5 whole years. Yew Tree hasn’t just taught me my skills in acting, it’s taught me so many life lessons and I will be forever most grateful. I’ve also started this at the start of June so it actually gets done. (I didn’t finish it until the 18th July with many tears)   I joined Yew Tree in 2016 after meeting Sarah at ‘West Yorkshire Performers’ and joining them in their production of Aladdin. During the rehearsals of this show, I decided to do the Summer School that year and finally join Yew Tree after a year. My first official Yew Tree performance was ‘Ella’, which was a musical adaptation of ‘Cinderella’. I was casted as a bitchy show girl, definitely not type casted at all (I can hear you all scoffing). I had a lot of fun in that show as it was pretty MT so I wasn’t thrown in the deep end too quickly.   Now I’m not sure if you heard...