What Alise Said: To speak, to connect, to trust
It was either a Thursday or a Friday night, depending on the year. That detail may seem small, but for me, it defined an entire chapter of my life. Fridays were for Gold Company. Thursdays, Black Company. Both were part of Yew Tree Youth Theatre, a place that helped shape the person I became. I joined at 15, unsure of myself, full of awkward energy and curiosity. At first, it was just something to do after school or work, a creative outlet, a chance to meet new people. But it quickly became more than that. So much more. Yew Tree didn’t just teach me how to act. It taught me how to exist. How to show up. How to be seen. Gold Company on Friday nights was where it all began. Those early years were full of discovery. We laughed a lot, we stumbled through scenes, we figured out how to speak from our stomachs instead of our throats. It was raw, chaotic, joyful. We were kids, playing at storytelling, but there was so much honesty in it. It was a space where we could try, fail, gr...