Hello! Last year I made it a goal to see as much
Youth Theatre as possible across the country.
I wrote a blog about the shows I saw at the end of 2013, and you can
read it here
So this year
once again I put my diary aside, booked my train tickets, begged for comps, and
set off to see young people making great theatre.
By the end
of March, I had been fortunate enough to see a fair few shows, so I wrote a
mid-year blog on the YT shows, which you can read here
A few days after
writing the blog, I went to see Upstage Centre’s production of The Bloody Chamber as part of their
Springboard event. Upstage Centre are
going from strength to strength, and I’m proud to announce I will be working as
a Trustee in 2015 supporting them in many awesome upcoming productions.
In April
2014, I bounded down to deepest, darkest Salisbury to see my friend Dave Orme’s
production of Bedlam with Stage65
Youth Theatre. The production had a good
balance of physical ensemble scenes whilst giving breathing space for actors to
play with the 18th century characters. The sense of uneasy background ensemble
spying and sneaking helped portray this world of gossip, rumour, mystery and
the inevitable question: Who really belongs
in the asylum?
Next up I
visited the midlands, and Nottingham Playhouse’s All Quiet On The Western Front directed by Allie Spencer. Such a dark, complex and weighty text was
handled brilliantly by this cast who managed to find all the moments of humour
and melancholy, occasionally reminding us these soldiers were no more than
children through clever theatrical moments and great playful use of staging.
Back on my hometurf
of York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre, The Genius
directed by Natalie Quatermass and A
Thousand Reasons Not To Fly directed by Jenna Drury were both marvellous
inventive and fun performances from the 8-11s.
A feast of fun characters and wacky moments, The Genius was brilliantly nutty
and A Thousand Reasons Not To Fly had
a very emotionally charged ending that genuinely touched the audience’s hearts,
perfect proof of the ability of youth theatre to move.
In July, I also
saw Harrogate Youth Theatre’s similar age range perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Jonquil Claughan. This was my own adaptation of the classic play,
drawing on lots of poetry and updating and streamlining the language whilst
keeping the magic, wonder and humour.
The cast (as well as a local school who also used a version I adapted)
kept all those elements of ensemble creating the magical world of the fairies
and the woods. I loved adapting this
Shakespeare, and realised how incredibly easy it is to find humour still within
the Mechanicals and their little play, and the wonderment of the fairy kingdom. If anyone is interested in looking at my
adaptations, please just get in touch.
Carriageworks
Young Theatre Makers presented Extraordinary
in July directed by Ruth Cooper, an original piece of work drawing ideas from
an enormous cast which spanned the ancient Greeks, World War 2 and into the
distant future. Ingeniously telling the
story of various child geniuses (genei?) it allowed for a number of connected
scenes and connected characters all telling their own stories in their own
worlds, but part of a larger picture, handled well by the group all with their
eyes fixed on the central theme: suspicion
of the extraordinary.
I travelled to
Derby to see the double-bill of The
Willow Pattern and The Chrysalis. Emma Waslin’s The Willow Pattern found
those charming moments of humour, but also the tension within the ancient
tale. Visually the show was full of
colour and vibrant images. In contrast,
Sarah Brigham’s The Chrysalides was full
of tortured characters exploring the bleakness of this zealous dystopian future. Both casts embraced their challenge of
performing on the main stage of Derby Theatre with gusto, energy and a commitment
to telling two great stories.
Back to
Nottingham in August, I killed two birds with one stone and managed to catch Equus before hitting Nottingham Queer
Punk Fest. Sarah Stephen’s cast were
highly professional in their dissection of this deep and rich play, drawing on fleshed-out
characters but an also a very haunting and brutal atmosphere, at times intense,
and often unsettling. Nottingham Playhouse
have suffered at the hands of Labour City Council cutting funding, and I hope
they can still continue the good work for their Youth Theatre in some capacity,
who always produce excellent quality work.
In November,
I managed to catch York Youth Theatre once again, this time with their 16+
groups performing Brecht-inspired pieces, Mr Puntila & His Man Matti and
The Circle of Chalk.
Mr Puntila
& His Man Matti (again directed by Natalie Quatermass) opened with a visceral
experience which saw the audience avalanched by an onslaught of snotty,
righteous, youthful anger, all shouting for occupations, getting rid of the
rich and the injustices of capitalism.
But Mr Puntila & His Man Matti also showcased hilarious comedy
moments; with a sea-sickeningly swaying distorting back-and-forth charm it left
the audience feeling drowned in Puntila’s drunken world of swagger and
ruse. Knowing looks, snooty jibes and brash songs all peppered this
capital play.
I was incredible
honoured to be asked to write The Circle
of Chalk for York Youth Theatre. Inspired
by Brecht’s version, but also the original ancient Chinese crime drama, I
poured a lot into this production. I
read up on the polices and arguments of various nationalist organisations,
researched the situation in the Ukraine and Palestine and wrapped the
production up in the poetic story-telling I’ve learned from both my own spoken
word gigs and Shakespeare.
(me and Natalie basking in the fame of a MASSIVE poster)
Using
collaborative story-telling, Julian Ollive’s The Circle of Chalk cast
wove an intense story rich with a range of flawed, funny, charismatic,
despicable and loveable characters. Their inventive ensemble work gave
every moment a thousand shrewd angles, and their unflinching questions on the
nature of nation rippled through the audience.
I have also
had the pleasure of work with The Lawrence Batley Young Company this year, working
with a very enthusiastic bunch of young people looking at snippets of
Shakespeare. I will be working with
them next year, as well as writing another piece for Harrogate Youth Theatre
and, as always, looking for commissions or freelance work. So if you want to read any of my scripts so
far, take a look at my work or get in touch for whatever reason, just drop me
an email on henrythepoet@btinternet.com
Thanks to
everyone who supplied me with a comp, thanks to everyone for the invites,
thanks to Harrogate Theatre and York Theatre Royal for the commissions, and thanks
to all the directors and casts for fantastic work.
Have a great
2015! More great Youth Theatre please!
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