What's happening at YTYT

Delighted to share Helena's end of half term blog with you! The first term of the year always brings an air of excitement with it. Christmas shows are over, and in Black company that means it’s time to decide what our next project is going to be. This is one of my favourite times of the year because it’s a time where anything is possible! New people move into the group, new voices and opinions appear and together, you begin to find the voice of the company. In Black, we’ve been doing a lot of exploring; trying to find the next play we would perform. In Sarah’s words we were looking for ‘a classic that isn’t Shakespeare’. After weeks of workshops, trying different styles, eras and playwrights out, we decided on Brecht’s ‘Fear and Misery in the Third Reich’. The play explores the lives of people living under Hitler’s reign during the Second World War. Having an episodic style means every scene brings completely unique challenges and potential. We’ve only just star...

Connor's Yew Tree 2018 Life So Far I don't think I'll ever get bored of writing these blogs and getting to reflect on everything that's happened so far for me as part of Yew Tree. Last year was exceptional and so far in 2018 it's been no different. My life is basically revolving around Yew Tree but I don't think I'll ever complain. Especially when it offers so much for me as a young actor. I ended 2017 with the Open-Mic Night and the Christmas shows so my expectations were incredibly high going into 2018 and it hasn't disappointed. There's Connections where it's developed into a piece that I'm already super proud of. But has also challenged me as an actor more than any other piece that I've done in the past and I love it for that. We've got our first set of performances of Ceasefire Babies in early March and I know it's going to be amazing and a can't-miss. But that's not all! There's Gold company as well. Where ...

Dec Kelly with our first blog of the half term! 2018! Let’s just say that the start to Yew tree 2018 has been a challenge already… And what we’re only 2 months in. National Theatre Connections is just around the corner and the entire cast have been working so hard. ‘Ceasefire Babies’ by Fiona Doyle is a play which requires so many skills from the cast in order to create this amazing story about how traumatic events from past conflicts can cause such a large impact on modern society. The rehearsal process from day one has pushed us to our limits with our acting skills but also physical skills. During the rehearsal process so far we have been able to explore the characters within the play and relating these youthful characters to events of ‘Ballymurphy Massacre of 1971’ which the play is inspired by. The music we have being rehearsing with has given the piece a whole new gritty feels to the performance helping us as a cast understand the problems faced by a war-torn country. I must ...

Becky with the final blog of our brilliant series... I returned to Yew Tree towards the end of 2017 after being a member previously for around two years. Having left at a time of change to finish off my A levels, I came back to find most members of Gold company had left and been replaced by new people even though I’d only been away 8 months. It’s a strange feeling returning somewhere that feels half familiar and half unknown. Of course, after just a few sessions, you can feel yourself getting back into the swing of things – with all the classic Yew Tree games that you didn’t even realise you missed, and the remaining members who you haven’t seen in such a long time. So, eventually, you begin to realise that although everything and everyone seems to have changed, it really isn’t as different as you initially thought. To begin with, I have to say that Halloween was one of the highlights of 2017. Working with my fabulous fellow witches, we put together a highly condensed performance o...

And the last blog for now although there maybe a couple later in the week - is Lucy who returned to us this year after a break and we’re very pleased she did... 2017- the year Donald Trump officially became president and the year I officially became a member of Yew Tree again... I know which one I'm happier about... Anyway let's rewind back to January, when Black Company took on the daunting task of bringing to life a full length Shakespeare play. Baring in mind I hadn't picked up a script in over a year, it's safe to say my acting was rusty (so was my ability to socialise and generally be around people outside of my house, what can I say, being a mum is time consuming) but clearly Sarah had more confidence in me than I had in myself as she gave me the role of Lady Macbeth (I know, I couldn't believe it either). If you asked any female actor who their dream roles are chances are you'd hear "Lady Macbeth" more than once, so as you can imagine, excited a...

Our next blogger is the very lovely Elliyah! Hope you’re enjoying this series of insights into YTYT if you want to catch up on the blog joy just scroll back... Yewtree - where do I start? I’ve been at Yewtree for just over a year now and I have to say I have loved every second of it! I started at Sapphire company during workshops in which we did work on physical theatre and different genres of acting - quite the treat! We then started devising Hansel and Gretel which was my first ever yewtree performance! My first show and I was honoured to be given a lead role - Gretel.  After that performance I was hooked and Sarah offered a place to me in Gold company, I’m not going to lie, at first I was terrified. It’s safe to say the nerves soon wore off as everyone there was so welcoming. As soon as I joined, the company were in the process of choosing a performance for later that year, and even though I just started they included me in that decision (something that had never happened at pas...

We have a wonderful blog combo for our next blog - the very excellent 8 year old Emma followed by her equally excellent Mum Sam!  In Yew Tree I have really enjoyed myself this year. I have had loads of fun this year doing things like Remember the Oaks, Three little pigs, Little red riding hood, The Miners memorial and of course the xmas performance. One of my favourite performances was the three little pigs which we did at Ossett town hall as I was lucky enough to play the wolf and I had longer lines to learn which I find makes it easier. I also really enjoyed working with the older ones doing the miners performances. In Jade company we have had so much fun too, I really enjoy playing all the games and really enjoy it when Emerald and Jade play games together.  The best bit of 2017 has got to be winning the award for most improved junior drama student 2017. I am looking forward to what I will do with yew tree in 2018. by Emma Loynes Emma joined Jade company in May 2016 and t...