What's happening at YTYT

Michael redeems himself by getting his blog in eventually... Well, how was my first Nostel experience?   Excellent in a word, yeah pretty much sums it up... But allow me to elaborate... I have always loved being a part of Yew Tree performances and Vision was definitely no exception. In fact I don't think I've ever performed in a play quite like it... It wasn't just a play, it was an experience. It took staying in character off stage to a whole new level for me, just because you were off stage it doesn't mean the audience can't still see you. Therefore staying in character is vital...   The performance itself was brilliant! When first reading the script I had no idea how it would all come together, or just how complicated it would be, but it worked! Everyone fulfilled there roles brilliantly, no two characters were the same, there was honestly excellent acting in this performance. I love being a part of Yew tree, not just because of the brilliant performances we pu...

You start off with the hint of an idea…a tenuous possibility that you fear won’t hold out under any kind of artistic scrutiny…so you think about it for a while and it starts to take shape…not in any easily describable form, but it’s not the spectre it once was, it’s starting to have a shape and it’s looking like you might have got something that will work.   This idea grows, not consistently but in flashes and spurts…moments of excitement when another piece of the puzzle slots into place.   Then you see who else is interested in realising this idea with you and you find out 28 are…which is brilliant but awe inspiring also as that’s a lot of characters to accommodate.   There are all sorts of other obligations you have to meet and you start to get impatient because you feel like at least a part of it is ready to be set down on paper and finally you find the time and are delighted because it is ready.   You begin to write and then you write and write and ...

Natalie was kind enough to write the Nostell 2012 blog... So Nostell week has been amazing and I honestly feel privileged to have been a part of it. As always the week went ridiculously fast and as soon as I returned from the pub on Friday night the post Nostell blues immediately kicked in – it’s weird not been surrounded by 28+ people for over 6 hours every day.   I’m sure everyone who came to see ‘Vision’ on Friday will agree that to perform an original piece of theatre with such a short amount of rehearsal time to that standard was impressive and obviously we have Sarah to thank for that. I enjoyed playing my character Jenny so much and worryingly there were some similarities between us – although I don’t think I’m quite as insane yet… Everyone else obviously saw the similarities between us as people are still calling me Jenny 3 days after the performance and all week Sarah has referred to me as Jenny (perhaps unintentionally!?) I just wanted to say that it has been a pleasure...

This week we have had read throughs for Aladdin, Cinderella and the Nostell play…started the process of casting for the Christmas shows and had all the final sessions of the term…yet another hectic week… So as the rest of the company’s take a well-earned break…Black Company with some help from members old and new prepare to stage their annual summer open-air production at Nostell.   It will be our 7 th performance of this kind and it’s become such an important part of the Yew Tree calendar.   Each final week of July we start on Monday morning with a brand new original play written specifically for the cast and work tirelessly through the week so that by Friday it is ready for public consumption.   The premise that has developed is that it has to be possible for the action of the play to happen in real time at Nostell Priory at 7pm on a Friday evening.   Previous treats have included a duel, an alien sighting and a gaggle of media hacks waiting for the ...

It's Jess's turn to blog about leaving Gold I’ve put it out there how fuming I am that I’m too old to stay at Gold… so I’ll just be nice now     Seriously… I can’t imagine not getting up on a Saturday morning for it! I love Yew Tree, all of it… but Gold is where I started and it feels like my second family. Gold has a perfect balance of playing games/ having a laugh with your friends & working really hard on a brilliant piece of theatre (if you want me to feature in Cinderella that would be fine). I remember how nervous I was to start Gold, but that’s the brilliant thing about it… you can walk in as the new person and 3 hours later you’re just another member of Yew Tree! Yeh so I don’t want to leave… ever? If you start Gold make sure you stay because I can’t actually imagine what my life would have been like without it, and I know that sounds dramatic ha but I actually cant! Anyway... I’m just gonna go and invent some kind of machine that will take me back 6 years so I c...

Yasmin blogs about Yearbook... For the last three weeks me, Joanna, Alice and Danny have been touring Year 7 classes in schools around Wakefield with ‘Yearbook’ (A twenty minute play and 40 minute workshop) and I’ve had a fab time!!! It was a really eye opening experience working with children in schools as it’s something I’ve never done before. Before we went to schools, we had a rehearsal week and planned the workshop and I was quite nervous because I’ve never been in the role of ‘teacher’ before and I didn’t have a clue what to expect from the students. I’ve been soo soo pleasantly surprised by the participation and responses from every single group that we’ve seen... some were top sets and others were of low ability but the workshops are all about opinion and response and so we have had some brilliant involvement and insightful answers in both. There’s something really rewarding and lovely when you hear an intelligent or sincere answer from a student because it feels like they’ve...

Three scripts all at the same time – a little ambitious – maybe – definitely…however it appears it’s doable…maybe…definitely…Aladdin is finished apart from the inevitable glitches that will make themselves known at the read through…so that’s one…Vision is almost there…I’m just waiting to see if any of the cast has a flash of inspiration today before I sign it over to the actors for line learning…so that’s two…Once that is done I’m left with Cinderella to finish off…it’s all a bit dicey at the moment, she’s just left the ball in a hurry so I need to focus on her as soon as possible so she can live happily ever after with her Prince…and then that will be three… The only way that such prolific writing is possible is due to the input of the companies the plays are for.   I couldn’t come up with all the ideas needed to make three plays interesting on my own but because I’m working with such creative generous actors I don’t need to.   I’m inspired by the original ideas...