Bromyard Intermediate and Senior Youth Theatre are excited to be taking part in this year’s Connections Festival.
About the festival…
Every year, Connections commissions new plays for young people to perform. The programme brings together some of the UK’s most exciting writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow. In 23/24, Connections are working with nearly 270 youth companies from every corner of the UK.
About the play…
A youth orchestra practises during half term holidays in preparation for a concert. Unexpected events cause them all to interrogate their relationship with success. How do you protect the joy of the process whilst also wanting to be the best? Is striving for artistic excellence worth the pressure of losing a soul?
The process so far…
The cast have been working hard in rehearsals to develop characters, learn lines (which is no easy task with a particularly challenging text) and come together as an ensemble. They have put their all into creating a performance that is full of creativity, emotion and their unique personality.
We were also lucky enough to be invited along to a Bromyard Wind Band rehearsal, which was a wonderful opportunity to experience watching a live band and seeing the instrument they mime playing on stage in person. It really inspired the cast and gave us that extra bit of motivation before our first performance. (add pictures)
Going on tour…
The cast had their debut performance of ‘Orchestra’ at their home venue, The Conquest Theatre in Bromyard on Tuesday the 19th March. Enjoyed by a supportive audience who were blown away by the standard of performance.
Quotes from the audience:
‘Amazing performance from you all, wonderfully put together and performed.’
‘Wow, what an amazing performance. Such a tricky play, with a fast pace. I loved the amazing monologues a really great chance to shine. Well done all of you.’
Next up, the cast will be performing at The Courtyard on Wednesday 27th March, as part of INSPIRED festival. Then finally in April, the group will be travelling over to Northampton to perform at The Royal & Derngate as part of their Connections Festival week.
How the cast feel…
One of the things I love most about The Conquest Youth Theatre, and with this production in particular, is we do a lot of character work. We fill in character profiles answering questions about our characters lifestyle and things like their name, age, what they had for breakfast and lots of different things that you wouldn’t necessarily encounter in the script. I like this because it helps us get into the mindset of each part and see from their perspective.
I also enjoy how the people here are never afraid to be themselves, as Ellen makes it a nice space where we can share our feelings and she doesn’t force us to do anything we don’t feel comfortable doing. She takes into account our fears, stresses and outside lives. This helps us gain trust and become better actors.
Find out more about The Courtyard Youth Theatre
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