What's happening at YTYT

For our final YTYT Christmas Blog we have Lucy's reminiscences on her long YT career... Hello! It’s me, Lucy, been a while Yew Tree-ers! Well, it hasn’t been that long but when you were a part of something for nearly 10 years, 3 months away seems like a long time. I’m here because I didn’t write a goodbye blog when I left so the 12 blogs of Christmas thing seemed a good way to do that. I think these blogs are supposed to be about our year at Yew Tree but I’m gonna throw it back a bit further if that’s okay. We’ll start back in 2008- my first year at Yew Tree. I walked into a group of people I’d never met (except the friend I’d tagged along with) sat in an old church on the outskirts of Eastmoor and did my first “news” (Gemma’s version of best and worst). I can’t say I remember much more about my first session other than the fact that my dad, in true Barry Tranter style, was waiting outside for me at the end in an embarrassing Australian bush style hat, and that I obviously had ...

Beth wrote our penultimate Christmas blog! 2018..what a year Yew Tree!  It’s been amazing to be back but I will admit taking over 4 years out and returning to such talented young actors was very scary! But I can honestly say it was like I had never left to start with.  I've learnt so much again this time round, you think after being in and out for 6 years you know all the tricks of the trade..I was so wrong haha! Black company in general is my highlight this year not only have I made new friends but I have also gained new skills.  Comet was a very hard hitting play to be a part of and I’m very very grateful for the part and parts I was given. Christmas shows I am devastated to have had to pull out over half way through, but the play itself was so cleverly written and put together, not only that but we even got to do a work shop with the gorgeous Leila Stewart that works on strictly come dancing! Not every day you get to say you learnt the waltz from someone a...

Helena also blogs about being a volunteer This year at Yew Tree I started volunteering at Emerald Company whilst they were working on their Christmas show ‘Christmas Wishes’. It was a lovely tale about human kindness and how Christmas is a great time to reach out to those maybe going through a tough time. I got to see a group of young people come together and create an amazing show, from the lovely dualoges between friends to the incredibly sassy ‘christmas spirits’ it was an all around amazing show. One thing I love about volunteering is seeing the stages of a show and watching it come to life. We go from the read through, where everything is unsure, to getting it up on its feet where things start to make sense, finally after loads of hardwork and graft and line learning, the show finally is ready. The great thing is getting into Castleford Phoenix Theatre and finally seeing the show. For some people in Emerald this is the first time they’ve ever performed so it really is a special...

Jacob blogs about being a YTYT volunteer on the 10th day of Christmas blogs! Yes there has been 10 days!! So it’s that time of year again, Christmas. A time to overindulge and to appreciate the great people in my life. I have certainly done my share of Christmas indulgence this year but in the true Yewtree way it has been in the form of self-indulgence, as I pranced around the stage dressed as a king or waltz my way around it as a miner from the 40’s. But alas, this blog is not about me (if it was this blog would go way over the word limit) but it is about appreciating the great people in my life or to be more specific the great and wonderfully talented orange company. I started volunteering at orange company about two years ago and to this day it stands as one of the best decisions of my life. I look forward to seeing and helping this marvellous group every week and for good reason. They are an amazingly talented group and their mature behaviour and mindset is an absolute credit ...

A proper treat for today's blog - Laura - the director of Jade Company and all round YTYT champion I have the pleasure of working with Jade Company, a wonderful bunch of excitable children that never fail to make me smile. This year our summer performance was ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ and was the first time some of the group had ever set foot on a stage. The performance went well with only minor hiccups and the looks on their faces when they received applause from such a big audience were priceless. Our Christmas play was to be ‘Stick Man’. We had a great time in the devising and rehearsal process and this was reflected in their final performances. They were brave, bold and a joy to watch. I look forward to seeing them progress further in 2019. In addition to working with Jade Company I volunteer my time with Gold Company which, although an entirely different experience, is equally as much fun. Often, the start of the session begins with our best and worst moments of the ...

The second blog of today is from Connor 365 Days-A retrospective of 2018 1 NODA Mini Bubble 1 Connection Week 5 Ceasefire Babies Performances 2 Remember Where You Came From Performances 1 Open-Mic Night Rehearsals 3 Companies I’ve Worked For 1 Comet Performance 2 Miners Memorial Performances 1 Theatre Trip 2 The Three Musketeers Performances 4 Are We Going For A Spin Performances 8544+ Hours Spent as a Yew Tree Member These are just the statistics I can remember from this year, without spending hours researching them, and it’s even more impressive when you remember that a lot of people have had an even busier year at Yew Tree. So, my forth blog as a Yew Tree member is going to be a look back on the incredible that was 2018. I’ll start the remembrance train by writing about my first experience with mining, with a little play called “Remember Where You Came From” written by the talented, Alan Wood. As a boy who was born and raised in Scarborough, I’ve never ...

First in the double bill for today's 12 days of Christmas blog is Dec! Another year and yet another Christmas blog... 2018 you have been a treat! Once again Yew Tree has given us even more opportunities and allowed some of us to undertake an unforgettable experience. And once again within the year new people have joined the Yew Tree family whilst others have flown from the nest. So here’s a snippet of my year at Yew Tree 2018. Yew Tree taking on the National - Connections 2018 Many people throughout Yew Tree past and present know what an amazing experience national theatre connections is. But imagine that experience being heightened by saying your going to be performing at the National Theatre in London... Well that happened this year. We started our connections journey in November 2017 with a newly written play, ‘Ceasefire Babies’ by Fiona Doyle. The cast ranged from members from black, gold and sapphire, some people who had never done connections and some who had done so man...