Amani's Connections Blog

 Hi, it’s Amani.

 

I joined Yew Tree Youth Theatre when I auditioned for Aladdin the Musical all the way back in 2016. On March 2nd that year, I found out I’d been cast as Wish #4. 6-year-old me probably thought it was going to be yet another one-time show with one of many youth theatres I had briefly attended back then; and yet here I am almost a decade later.

 

Participating in NT Connections was something I had wanted to do for a long time. Unfortunately I wasn’t old enough at first, and then last year I was unable to participate due to not being available during February half term for rehearsals. However I was extremely excited to audition this year and finally take part in the Connections process.

 

Auditions were a little different for me, as I wasn’t aware that I was able to partake in Connections this year until the day beforehand and, as such, didn’t have any time to prepare a passage from the script. However instead I filled in for other character’s lines in scenes other people had prepared, and made sure to read as ‘Talia’ as much as I could. The cast list came through very quickly, in fact we got access to it just a few hours after the auditions.

 

I’m really happy that I got cast as Talia as I wanted a non-central role since it was my first Connections show, and because I didn’t want quite as many lines to learn in the midst of GCSE revision. Talia is a fun-loving 15-year-old girl who enjoys surfing and hanging out with her friends on the beach, and I have enjoyed every moment when playing her on stage.

 

Unlike most other first Yew Tree rehearsals, we started by exploring the meaning of the play and discussed the depths it goes to in order to convey the message on stage. We also dived deeper into each character, as well as having a table read of the script allowing us to write down many questions about the play. Of course we brought out the famous long roll of paper too.

 

Putting the play in action was quite difficult at first. In fact, for over a month I could barely connect some scenes together. However by the end of January, the whole play really began to interlink and suddenly every little direction made sense. I really enjoyed spending a few hours working on flocking and the push-pull-resist methods which helped structure the insane amount of physical theatre that takes place throughout scene 10. Adding in the transitions between scenes also pulled each part of the story into place; my favourite one to perform was the protest freeze-frames transitioning between scenes 3 and 4, however my favourite song used in the transitions - actually, in the whole play - is ‘Kokopelli Face Tattoo’ which is used during the transition between scenes 4 and 5.

 

Costume wasn’t too much of an issue this year, as we just had to find/buy blue and yellow clothes. However, this is probably the most prop-heavy show I’ve ever been in (literally too because that grey generator is no feather). Transporting props from the sidelines to the stage is difficult enough, let alone moving them from venue to venue.

 

One thing, or 97, about the show that I don’t think gets enough credit is the lights, sounds, effects, and projection that brings the play to life. In one rehearsal I had to bang on a box in a silent room whilst the audio was recorded, just so the tech people could create a sound effect for the boat hitting dry land. So this is like a more formal thanks to the tech team - especially Ash, as I completely understand that having to alter 20 minutes of footage just to tweak the timing of an effect on some random line is NOT fun. I’ve always applauded back towards you during bows as, without sound, the show wouldn’t have been anywhere near as perfect as it was. Well done for not literally either crying or throwing something at Sarah by the time connections week was over hahaha

 

Connections week had to have been one of my favourite weeks of this year so far. Almost all of us spent 5+ hours on each weekday in February half term rehearsing scenes, running lines, building the giant fish prop, and playing yew tree games. Despite it definitely getting stressful at times, it was so worth it in the long run.

 

Being able to do a few dress and tech rehearsals in the performance space was also super helpful for the whole cast and crew. For example, in the cronies scene we had to jump onto the stage and had no idea how that was going to work in the actual performance. In fact Matthew was the only one who could do it! We all just ended up helping each other up or getting up there some other way. It also put so much more of the play into perspective: the lights were on, the projection was behind us, the props were at the back, and the space was filled with chairs that would soon be littered with audience members.

 

I loved being able to perform in the local shows at the beginning of March! Although we were all very tired (and overheated) by the end, it was definitely worth it. Yes, things went wrong, but we got through it like always. It was so wonderful to hear the feedback from friends and family who came to watch us perform; talking to the Cast Theatre and NT Connections representatives who watched our first show was great too. 

 

Performing for Crofton High was a bit of a challenge. I found it quite ironic how we all had to pretend to be freezing cold in the HEAT of that room haha - however, it was so nice to perform to a younger audience and learn to adapt to performance spaces quickly.

 

I had been looking forward to the minibus to Bridlington beach for soooo long. The NODA workshops were amazing; I particularly loved learning how to (safely) stage the snapping of a character’s neck during the stage combat session. We ran a rehearsal of our play but picked different characters to perform as out of a bag, and I REALLY enjoyed playing Paz for that hour. Although his morals aren’t the best, he is such a lively and interesting character to portray. We played ‘That’s Out’ on the beach, allowing heaps of sand into our shoes, and then grabbed fish and chips by the sea. I would go on that trip again a million times over if I could.

 

Performing at the CAST Theatre in Doncaster was epic. It was so nice to have a huge stage and lots of lighting to work with, and the audience for that performance was probably the best audience we’d had overall. It was also great to share the stage with CAPA College performers, as they started the showcase by performing another NT Connections play: Saba’s Swim.

 

Words can’t even begin to describe how much being a part of this show meant to me. It was such a fun experience to have been a part of and, if I was told to, I would choose to do it all over again in a heartbeat.

 

Thanks to everyone who came to watch our production this year.

Thanks to the people in the cast who chose this brilliant play.

Thanks to Sarah for being an amazing director, as usual.

Thanks to John for giving us extra rehearsal notes.

Thanks to Ash for doing complicated techy things.

Thanks to Sam for helping us out with props.

Thanks to Olli for chaperoning backstage.

Thanks to the wonderful cast members: Freya, Ash, Jess, Fred, Robin, Amelia, Izzy, Alice, Amelia, Matthew, Alfie, and Ben. We all worked so hard (you’d think we’d be sick of each other by now haha)

Thanks to Yew Tree, of course

 

This is Talia, signing out.