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Showing posts from February, 2013
 A wonderful review of Tomorrow I'll Be Happy... Hello Brittany here! So last night I saw the wonder that was Tomorrow I’ll Be Happy, the latest Connections play being undertaken by Yew Tree. I’ve never seen a Connections play before, but understood that it was a treat not to be missed. I couldn’t agree more, and I hope this review does it justice. From the very first moment when the lights began to go up and we were introduced to the first scene I was captivated. The rest of the scenes did not disappoint, with each one introducing more and more twists until you reach the end, shocked at what you’ve just witnessed, and finally understanding the power of the message the play provides. I feel it’s appropriate to mention that while I am writing this I am effectively procrastinating so I don’t have to write my essay about homosexuality, which is a key part of my school work. This basically means that I feel I can talk about all the laws on homosexuality, how they

Connections on a wider scale...

I was at the St George’s AGM on Wednesday (that surprised some of you didn’t it…assuming I’d be all about connections this week) it was a glorious event.   There’s something so very special about a community coming together to celebrate the obstacles they’ve overcome over the year and celebrating their triumphs.   Our youth music singers performed at the event which was joyous in itself…ten of the group sang their signature song, “Under my Hedge” and then added in their stick song from New Zealand as a delightful extra.   Proud doesn’t come close to how I felt when I watched them.   There was, however, another performance on the agenda.   A group of dancers with additional needs showed us what they have been working on this year and in so doing made an unforgettable impression on me.   The reason?   The final dance they did was in pairs, as oppose to the other numbers they had performed when they’d been dancing individually.   Something truly magical happened when
Mel has written a blog about our Connections play from an actors experience Well, it's the day after the Cathedral performances, which means we get a few days out of character before popping back into them for the NEW College performance on Wednesday.   But yeah, it's been tough. Nobody can say it hasn't been. It's the hardest play to perform that I've ever come across. We've taken it apart scene by scene, rehearsed it backwards (which is actually forwards in terms of events), we've researched and we've challenged ourselves.   When I auditioned for Cyprus, I did it with the intention of being pushed and leaving my comfort zone, because for those who haven't seen it yet, me and Cyprus come from two completely different worlds. In fact, nearly all of the characters are from different worlds, unless you come from a coastal town where there is nothing: no future prospects, no jobs, no truly bonding friendships where everyone looks out for everyone, n
Hiya, it’s Emma Fretwell and I'm blogging about what it’s like to be part of the Connections project this year Usually at Yew Tree we devise lots and lots based on a story or a stimulus and then Sarah or Gemma will write it up into something sensible that we can perform back properly… but it isn’t like that with Connections. You’re picking up this brand new play that has been written especially for young people, a play that hasn’t been performed ever before and you have to put your stamp on it. A playwright (whom you’ve never met) has written a play about characters that you’ve never even dreamt of, and you get to put your claws right in. Connections is the only project that you have to properly audition for at Yew Tree because it’s the most professional process you can be a part of. I found the auditions fairly nerve-wracking, but it’s so worth doing – getting cast feels fab, and then you get the opportunity to undertake this incredibly intense journey and perform an excellent pla

"Tomorrow We'll Be Happy"

Next week is a big event in the Yew Tree Youth Theatre calendar it is our NT Connections week and up until yesterday I have to admit to being a little concerned.   We’ve taken on such a challenge with, “Tomorrow I’ll Be Happy,” it’s possibly the most demanding play we’ve done and I was beginning to think that maybe in the time allowed we weren’t going to pull it off to quite the standard set by past productions.   It wasn’t that people weren’t putting in the effort it was simply that the effort needed was something greater than something like this had ever demanded before…so I admit, a couple of weeks ago I was thinking that maybe there would be a gap between expectations and results for Connections this year. Not anymore though.   Since yesterday everything has slotted back into it’s rightful place and I am a very happy director.   It was a tough rehearsal as we dissected the most challenging moments in the play.   Due to the nature of the story of the play t
Bobbie is our second... Theatre through the ages is a go! Well… it’s been go for a few weeks now… but we only properly started on it today, and let me tell you, it’s coming on a dream already! We’ve only done a scene and a bit! Just by watching the first part unfold, and seeing how everything was done in unison already…it definitely shows how brilliant the finished piece would be if we practice and practice and practice, which I have no doubt that we will.   To tell you the truth, I’m really excited about this. It’s something totally different to what I’ve done before at Yew Tree and I’m really looking forward to seeing how brilliant the finished thing will be! I think it’s definitely helping people develop their understanding of the theatre. I also like the clarity of what it brings. Before I read the script, there was so many little bits that I never knew where it came from, and now I do.   I also like how, this is making us try new things… well, one person in particular. It’s safe
Toni is our first blogger Monday night's Sapphire session was based on melodrama and stage fighting and because I missed stage fighting last time, I was really looking forward to it. We started off with a few warm up games then we gathered around and listened to the dos and don'ts of stage fighting. You have to stand far enough away from your partner so you can't touch when you hold your arms out and then you follow the pattern of eye contact, pull fist back, punch and follow through. We watched a few demonstrations and they were so realistic! It looks especially good if one of you has your back to the audience because of perspective. After this, we got into twos and started practising. It took a while to get the hang of making a loud enough noise or reacting at the right time but within 10 minutes everyone could do it pretty well. For the final performance each pair was grouped with another to make fours (or a six in one case) and we were asked as a group to come

Transformed Landscapes...

As I sat down to write this week’s blog the much anticipated, passionately predicted next helping of snow started to fall from the sky.   Pausing to watch it from my kitchen window as I brewed another Sunday morning cup of tea I thought about what it is that makes it such a topic of animated conversation.   Firstly I thought it might be simply the novelty of snow but then I thought surely that must be wearing thin this year.   Much more likely perhaps, to be the unique property of snow to transform familiar landscapes into something entirely new in the space of a couple of hours.   I don’t think I could get tired of that magical experience of going to sleep with a world too familiar and waking to an entirely altered horizon of white and silver and softness.   However eventually I alighted on what I think might be at the root of the snow hype.   My theory is that from the first fall of snowflakes there is a chance that people’s prospects for their immediate future m
Amy Thompson is our guest blogger! Monday evening means the wonderful thing called Sapphire company. This week was a night of melodrama; stock characters, big actions and bold expressions. After best and worst, games and notices, we got into groups of three and labelled ourselves A, B and C. 'Where's the rent?' 'I don't have the rent!' 'If you don't have the rent, you're out on the streets!' 'I'll pay the rent!' 'My hero' Of course, this was a performance including the three stock characters the hero, the villain and the victim. We took some time to develop the characters in this exercise, but we began to explore them more after merging into groups of 6. The challenge was to produce a short piece of about 15 lines with 6 stock characters: the hero, the villain, the victim, the villains companion, the old wise and the servant for the old. Sapphire are becoming experts at the joyous devising and this was definitely proven

Jonny's showcase

I went to London this week to see Jonny in his final year showcase.   For those of you who don’t know who Jonny is, he used to come to Yew Tree before he left Wakefield two and a half years ago to train as an actor at East 15.   For those of you who don’t know what a final showcase is it’s where actors at the end of their training perform monologues and duologues for people in the “industry” agents, casting agencies, directors etc.   For those of you who don’t know what East 15 is it’s a drama school that resides in the top tier of places to train as an actor. It was quite the moment for me as Jonny was the first of our actors to be successful in gaining a place at drama school and consequently he is the first to try and make it in the big bad world of professional acting.   His journey in that is only just beginning, quite an impressive prospect by anyone’s standards. However what was really impressive was his performance in the showcase.   It was wonderful to see
Hello people of Yew Tree! Brittany here, cornet-player, horror enthusiast and incredibly proud Sapphire member. I am here to impart my wisdom on the subject of Sapphire company’s frolic at playing Yew Tree Roulette. Now, this was only the second time I personally have played Yew Tree Roulette, the first time being in a smaller group. And it was fabulous. The first step was collecting cards, a nerve racking experience in itself. We were the last group to pick, meaning there were only two cards to pick from in each category, which led me to be fooled into believing that we, as a group, were at a disadvantage. How very wrong I was. Looking at our cards you could instantly see the joy on our groups face, such perfect cards with such possibility for creativity! Now, to keep you in the loop, we were basically given the genre of horror, with it to be set within to woods. As I mentioned before, I love horror, so this was perfect for me. We began by shouting ideas at each other, there were so m