Scottish Youth Theatre blog

Summer Festival 2012 - Twisted Shakespeare - APPLY NOW!

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:52:00 +0000

SF11 guest blog number 9. Rory Beaton

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:50:00 +0000

Hiya pals,
I'm Rory Beaton and I play Tod in "Prom Night of the Living Dead." Obviously today I am the guest blogger (the best blogger yet!). Yesterday was a day off for "Prom Nighters" after working from last sunday right through until Saturday doing our technical and dress rehearsals. Tod is a comic-book-hero-mad lad. He is also the valedictorian for his year and also a trend setter in style!

We open tonight at the Tron Theatre, which I'm extremely excited about! The whole cast and crew have worked extremely hard on the show and we hope that you enjoy what you see on stage! It has been discussed that a film about my rather exciting(!) life should be made and it is indeed rumoured that Alan Carr will be playing the role of me. I can confirm that sadly these rumours are false and there is no film to be made about me; sad, sad times! Hope to see everyone at "Prom Night"!
Over and out,
Rory B :) x

SF11 guest blog number 9. Kenneth Watt

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:14:00 +0000

Hello! (Or should I say "Huzzah!" - an in-show joke),

I'm Kenneth and I play a rather manic and enthusiastic Duke of Edinburgh leader in the three week devised show, "Zombiism", which the 20-strong cast has written and put together over the past week and a bit.

Today has been very productive and stressful - but as Tom and Andrew, our directors, remind us, pain, spit and sweat are our friends - so a lot has been achieved in preperation for our first full run which will start in around twenty minute's time!

The show will involve the audience as Duke of Edinburgh award participants who will be taken through various rooms and settings in the SYT building. Without revealing too much about the storyline, anyone seeing it will experience promenade theatre as never seen before as well as a very unique set - one exciting part is that the audience will be housed in sleeping bags/on logs/camping stools in the camping scene.

So, if you want to be part of an "unforgettable experience," get your tickets for Zombiism now!

Oh yeh - if I was to be played by someone in a movie about me, I'd go for Craig Roberts. He's Welsh, which gives a crackin' accent, and he plays the protaganist in the film of the book "Submarine" which portrays a nerdy, weird teenager: me!

SF11 guest blog no. 9 - Jamie Morrison

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:55:00 +0000

Well, I'm Jamie, I'm playing Tom in 'Born Bad?' Tom is the older brother of Grace and as the show progresses you see him gradually break away from the rest of his family.

This is my third Summer Festival and I'm really enjoying it, this year I'm working with Fraser which is a first and I'm liking the change and it's been a great four weeks. I've met loads of new people this year which has been brilliant and of course I've got to see everyone from years before who I haven't seen in ages.

Today we have been doing our Technical Rehearsal, which has been, very, very tiring. We started teching at about three and so far we've made it to the third scene! It's great to be on the stage with all the set out and in our costumes and with the completed sound track.
Hmm, who would play me in a movie of my life? Well, I don't think that would be a very interesting movie, but I'm told that currently I look like Draco Malfoy or Christopher Eccleston which would be quite funny to see.
Well, I'd better go and get into costume and onstage before it's too late, I don't really want to anger Kenny or Fraser or Jayne!
I'll see you at the showings of 'Born Bad?' in the Brian Cox Studio Theatre!

SF 11 Guest blog no.8 - Nicola Currie

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 08:31:00 +0000

Hi, I'm Nicola Currie and I am one of the wardrobe assistants on Summer Festival.

So, we're halfway through week 4 and here in the Wardrobe Department, we've finished sourcing, making and altering most of the costumes for the casts for all 3 shows. Although I have been working primarily on Prom Night, here in Wardrobe we muck in and help out on all of the shows when we can. For this year's shows, the majority of costumes to make were for Prom Night so it's been like a 50s B movie in our wee room for the last few weeks!

Because we have now started to place all the costumes in the changing rooms ready for the dress rehearsals and techs, we are at a great stage where we can source all the nice parts of dressing that makes costumes come together, for example shoes, bangles, earrings, gloves, glasses, caps, etc.

With what feels like hundreds of young people to dress, where possible we "make do and mend". Yesterday, we spent the morning painting PVA glue on four pairs of £6 VERY high heel shoes and covering them with bright blue glitter, they now look a million dollars! I wonder whose costume they could be......!!!!

The person I would like to play me in the movie of my life would be Lorraine Kelly.

Right, we're off to pick up some last minute items in the sales, see you for opening night!

Nic xxx

SF11 guest blog no 7. Nathan Byrne

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:59:00 +0000

Hello! I'm Nathan Byrne; I'm 19 3/4 years old, I like to eat cereal for dinner and I'm the trainee director on Prom Night. We started this scorching day with a run of act one, then used the afternoon to polish the second act before running this newly-polished act two in the evening. Everything is coming together nicely and the show is really starting to take shape. The cast are all putting in a lot of hard work and I feel very lucky to be working with people who are so dedicated.

It took me a long while to think about who would play me in a film. After hours of dedicated consideration, I believe that there is only one actor who could potray the internal struggles of a man who eats cereal for dinner. Denzel Washington.

SF11 guest blog number 6. Ruth Brandon

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 16:28:00 +0000

Awrite lads, Ruth here or, if you prefer, Karma the vampire from Prom Night of the Living Dead.
Rehearsals are going pretty well, I'm loving seeing everything come together with the 3 week company too (feel kinda sorry for you lot having to learn everything so fast, but I'm impressed!) It's so peculiar being in a heavy cheesey musical and not playing a cheesey character... let's be honest, vampires and cheese don't go, especially if it's garlic cheese! Sorry- clearly Nathan's terrible jokes are having an effect on me.

I've literally just been fitted for my costume and it's pretty braw, very black and very batlike. Fin decided that should wear flat shoes, so after spending the last few weeks rehearsing in 5 inch heels I don't know whether to be relieved or gutted! The whole cast seems really excited about their costumes too, set's being built next week and I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks until opening night! Adrenaline overload aaahhh!

Who would play me in a film of my life? Tough question man, um apparently the chick that played Effy from Skins resembles me when I was about 15, so maybe she could play young me? Is it okay to invite Audrey Hepburn back from the dead to film it? We both have unplaceble accents you see... Fair enough, she's much more beautiful than wee me, but I can dream eh?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have carrots and humous waiting to be eaten... Catch ye! x

SF11 guest blog number 5. Rosy Duncan

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:30:00 +0000

Hey, it's Rosy (young Ella) from Born Bad.
I think today might literally have been the best day ever.

Instead of our usual amazing warm up with Jayne, i pretty much slept in and came down to syt for Fiona Danter's "1oth birthday party". Amazing. Not gonna lie, I won musical bumps and pass the parcel. After lunch, Tabitha(Grace) and I skipped rehearsals and went down to the park with musical Ross and ran about for a bit and let him film us for parts of our show whilst everyone else was stuck with Fraser watching a movie which was quite exciting. Also, I'm currently drying my hair after letting Kenny Miller dye it red so compared to our usual rehearsals, today's been pretty sound.

Genuinely, I've been thinking about this for about a week now but if someone had to play me in the movie about my life, it would have to be Cinderella that plays me. I know she's a cartoon character but she's seriously the only person I can think of thats perfect.. or maybe Lunaaaa Lovegood from haz pots. no idea.
Bye leds. x

SF11 guest blog number 4. Garry Carr

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:57:00 +0000

Hi everyone!! I'm Garry, I am a technical participant. I have been working on Born Bad?. We have been doing a lot of work in technical course. We have been working on the Born Bad set along with Mike and Nelly who is bulding and painting the set. I have been watching the Born Bad which looks amazing and I can’t wait till the rest of the set and the lighting is all put together which will look fantastic. We have also been going to places to collect various props from other theatres that have kindly given us props to borrow, One of the theatres is as far as Stirling called the Macrobert (pictures) which is near my home town and was able to put my name forward to my local theatre for further experience in my career so, yeah my experience in the Scottish Youth Theatre has been great so far and can’t wait for the final production week where it will all be brought together.

SF 11 Week 2 ... is over! Already?!

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:03:00 +0000

Hi everyone, hope you're enjoying your Saturday night off from rehearsals.

Week 2 is now at a close; so that's two weeks down for Performance & Production and Technical participants, and the end of week 1 for the Glasgow Foundation Course.

Things are getting exciting as the Glasgow Foundation Course prepare for their performance at Lansdowne Church on Saturday 23 July and the casts and crews of both Born Bad? and Prom Night are starting to run shows through, start to finish.

I was lucky enough to see Prom Night Act One on Wednesday and scenes from Born Bad? on Friday. The musical numbers in Prom Night are big, bold and fun, with the script flipping between downright funny to really poignant. If you haven't already, check out the pictures here. One minute, full-on musical numbers with catchy lyrics and even catchier beats (thanks to Ross Brown) have everyone smiling and ready to dance. The next, high school students are morphing into terrifying creatures with even more terrifying accents to match. Mary came back from London last year and said she'd seen this amazing play that she'd like to include in the festival: "It's kind of like Grease meets Night Of The Living Dead. Oh and there's werewolves, witches and monsters in it too". At the time, hard to imagine! Now that it has arrived in Glasgow ... well, let's just say it was a very good choice indeed.

And then there's Born Bad?, a play that couldn't be more different from Prom Night - but let me tell you, it's just as compelling. The subject matter is serious and so the script reflects this; I watched director Fraser MacLeod run through a very intense scene with Calum Johnston and Jamie Morrison in the Gold Room. Even just watching in the rehearsal room you feel very involved. Within a very short time of being in the Brian Cox Studio, with the full cast, I was completely gripped too (and forgot the reason I was there was to take photos!). I also had goose bumps all over my arms when the cast started making these eerie, whispery sound effects. I won't spoil too much, but there's some pretty cool sound scaping going on in this show.

Do you have your tickets yet? Why not?! Book online with our friends at Tron Theatre.

Below are some images from Born Bad? rehearsals and the Glasgow Foundation course. For Prom Night rehearsals at Limelight Studios, check out our Flickr page.

Of course, I'm biased but it really looks to me like The Summer of Horror has something for everyone: an all singing, all dancing rock musical with heart; a serious, gripping, moving and challenging play about nature versus nurture and then a devised piece about Zombies - which could go in any direction at all! Why are you still reading?? The Tron Box Office is this way!

Emma Dunipace,

SYT Senior Marketing Officer

Glasgow Foundation Course.

SF11 guest blog no.3 Emma-Jane Granger

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:45:00 +0000

Ok so hi, I'm Emma-Jane and, like Calum, I'm part of the cast of 'Born Bad?'. I play 'girl one' who I've renamed Daisy (Princess Banana Hamock) and I'm also part of the chorus who kind of tell Ella's (the murderer) story.

Today we blocked the second half of the show and now we've pretty much finished the outline of the play and all we need to do now is go back and tighten up some of the scenes so they will flow together. For me the best bit is seeing it all come together, our musical director (Ross Ramsay!) is awesome and has put together a chilling soundtrack which gives me shivers every time I hear it.

I can't wait to get the costumes, especially for the wee girls cause we have to be dressed up to look like our mums with over sized heals and huge dollies, but I have grown attached to the one I have now called Bridget so I'll be sad to see her go, le sob :(

Anyway I better go I can hear Fraser's cheery call of 'Lets do it again, this time with talent!'

careful though cause........ ELLA'S GONNA GET YOU!

SF11 guest blog no.2 Calum Johnston

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:37:00 +0000

OK i dont really know how to start this, but i guess by saying that i already have. So yeah, im Calum, im in the show "Born Bad?". I am Billy who is "the wee brother of the Girl who killed" The whole show is about the affect of a killing on each side of the event, the victim's family as well as the Murderers family. Its a very dark play that deals with very deep issues and one where the audiences reaction to it wont be unanimous.

The best part of 5 week so far is slowly seeing the set and music being made. Its all going really well and the music especially gives what we have done alot more energy and makes you feel as if you are in the scene not just performing it. The movement pieces have been alot of fun to do and it gives the show a really energetic start and makes the show start with a bang.

Im really looking forward to when the set an costumes are all done and we can actually have a feel for the space and we can really get into charater. Everyone is putting there full potential into the show so, i feel, its going to be really good. we have already blocked half the show and progressing fast, only a few more chorus things to do and then we are done and can fix small details. Fraser has done really well with what he is doing and with is constant phrase "less is more" he has made the show very stylised and what we have done looks great.

This is a really strange question... Um i dunno who would play me in a film? I've been told that i look like many people; Aaron Johnson is prob a good bet but i look like him so i would play him coz he is older :/ Sid from skins looks like what i used to look like, but again, he is older. But i guess if age is no object Ian McKellen or David Tennent would be my dream actors, maybe they could do a whole Dr who or james bond thing where they change ever so often... I dunno. anyhow i better go or Fraser will kill me :L Bye xx

SF11 guest blog no 1. Ethan Greig

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:42:00 +0000

I am in Prom Night of the Living Dead and play Shape one of the evil witch Morgan's henchman.
Today we spend the best part of the day running through act one in its entirety and blocking the first scene of act two, after we had done our daily physical and vocal warm ups.

My favorite part of the course this far is definitely the character development as it really does help you connect with the role you will be playing in the show. I am looking forward to being able to perform in front of the audience and also seeing everyone truely become their characters.

I think that I would like James Franco to play me in a film of my life because he is a really good actor and people have said in the past that I look slightly like him.

SF11 Official Launch Party - scary clip

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:40:00 +0000

SF11 - Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:42:00 +0000

sneak peek at the big underground posters artwork!

Summer Festival 2011 - end of week one

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:28:00 +0000

Hi there! Week one is now officially over and what a week it was. As well as rehearsals there was a packed week of evening workshops in games, dance, video-making, stage-make-up (below) plus performances from The Lab (first event sharing from them) and Zombiism director Tom Hobbins (he performed GROW, previously reviewed here by The Herald).

As for me, this was my first taste of Summer Festival at Scottish Youth Theatre, and now, at last I can see what all the fuss is about. Roll on the next bits!

Iain Findlay-Walsh
Marketing
Scottish Youth Theatre

Sunshine On Leith - A Review by James Beck

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:20:00 +0000

Sunshine on Leith is back for a third run since it first started in 2007 – but with one big difference. It is now starring SYT patron Billy Boyd! He joins a practically brand-new cast for the touring production, which is also going down to England. (No idea what they’ll think of the accents)

I saw Sunshine on Leith the last time it was on at Dundee (2008), and I should warn you that it is not your conventional musical. When people hear that it is based on the songs of Scottish duo The Proclaimers, most minds jump to other such musicals as Mamma Mia! (Abba) and We Will Rock You (Queen), both which have very tongue-in-cheek approaches to the story, and also act as a homage to the original artists. Sunshine on Leith is like that, with great elements of humour, but still emerges with a raw emotional heart that manages to hit you in the tear ducts.

(I will say now that when myself, Mr Kyle Pryke and Miss Viki Leech went to see it there was some changes in casting, so this review will be based on who was playing the characters at that performance, and not what it says in the programme)

The play centres around the return of Davy (Billy Boyd) and Ally, soldiers in the Iraq War, to their hometown, Leith. Ally goes out with Davy’s sister, Liz, a fiercely independent young woman determined to go out and see the world. Davy and Liz’s parents, Rab (Jon Buick) and Jean (Anne Smith – usually Ann Louise Ross), are getting ready for their 30th wedding anniversary when Rab (unknown to Jean) receives a letter from a former flame, Margaret (Samantha Blaney) which contains details of their last night together – which happened when Jean was pregnant with Davy… Liz and Ally set up Davy with Yvonne, an English nurse, something that Davy thought would never work – but as this Sunshine on Leith, the path of love never did run smooth…

Highlights include: learning how to speak properly in a call centre (Throw the R Away); the impromptu marriage in a pub (Let’s Get Married); and an embarrassing speech from Rab (Oh Jean), and the tender emotional songs such as Letter from America, Sunshine on Leith, not to mention the famous 500 Miles, and yes, you will be expected to join in! I’d love to say more without giving anything away, but, that’s pretty much impossible. The music’s fantastic, with a live band, and a simple set allows the scenes to move swiftly into each other. The first song was a bit loud, but the audience soon settled into the natural flow of things.

Otherwise, a flawless production!

SYT News - September 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:48:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

It's hard to believe the Summer Festival 2010 programme of workshops, rehearsals and performances is over. The Festival was a resounding success with audiences, theatre critics and participants alike.

Now September is here and it's already feeling less summery outside, that can mean only one thing - Autumn/Winter Season at SYT! Hold your breath as there's a lot to take in here. OK, here goes:

Classes - weekly drama in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow start back this month. If you haven't booked your place, don't miss out. Numbers are limited. And if you haven't tried these workshops before then why ever not?! ;) They're immense fun, led by professional tutors and take place in either His Majesty's Theatre Aberdeen, Edinburgh Festival Theatre or The Old Sheriff Court. All of these venues are stunning in their own unique way. It's not all about learning about theatre either - build your confidence, make new friends and try something a bit different.

The National Roadshow kicks off in October. The SYT team take to the roads of Scotland and will travel to literally any corner of the country to give you and your school /youth drama group a taste of SYT is like. And for the small price of £50. For more info on this, click here. It's a great opportunity for us to come to you, so if you know someone that might be interested, email roadshow@scottishyouththeatre.org.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then let SYT tell you a story! Family Story Time (a personal favourite!) starts back for a third season. Hurray! These magical sessions are for little ones and their families. The SYT Productions gang bring classics as well as more unusual children's tales to life with props, sound effects and bags of talent. Want to know the new stories? Click here.

Phew, I'm exhausted just typing! Not finished, try to keep up!

The October Course will involve all things spooky, mysterious and of course be heavily concerned with acting. Possibly a bit of devising. Don't want to give too much away at this stage, still something of a work in progress. As always it will be a fun and exciting way to spend the break. As if you'd expect anything less! Just keep a close watch on the facebook fan page, blog and SYT homepage.

Wee Red is the next festive production from SYT Productions. Again, this performance will be aimed at 3-7's & their families, in keeping with the style of The Beauty of Sleeping Wood, The Puddock & the Princess and The Ugly Duckling. Wee Red could be the naughtiest of all our main characters. Come along to find out why sometimes, Mum is right!

Company news in brief:

SYT will be working with film production company Urban Croft, River Clyde Homes and Inverclyde Academy to produce Up Close: Young People's Documentary. Already can't wait to see the finished result.

SYT Artistic Director & Chief Executive Mary McCluskey has been working with Y-Dance and BAFTA winning writer/director David Cosgrove on the story of Icarus, the Greek fable about the boy who wanted to fly. Above are some rehearsal shots of the cast - flying! Looks like there's a lot of skill involved here in these rehearsals - but looks like lots of fun, no?!

Participant news in brief:

Well done to Cara Duffy, who successfully won the part of understudy in the musical re-telling of The Secret Garden. Cara goes to weekly classes and has taken part in Summer Festival too. Bravo Cara, what an achievement!
Ex-participant Craig Steele, who is on an adventure down under, is clearly taking everything in his stride and showing folk in the land of Oz how things are done. Read the article about Craig's success here.
Jayne Austin will be taking part in the Commonwealth Games Flag Handover ceremony in Delhi - in a cast 350 people strong! The show will be televised around the world (eeek!) in October. There will be lots more to report on this in the run up, so again, watch this space!

It's non stop at Scottish Youth Theatre - but that's the way everyone here loves it.

The first ever Summer Festival - a personal account by Gordon Walters.

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:17:00 +0000

Thank you to Gordon for giving up his time to right this and share his memories in such fantastic detail. When he left a kind comment on the fan page, I was curious if he had a lot of Summer Festival memories to share ... luckily, he did. Gordon now lives in London and sits as Judge - but it seems that his own Summer Festival experience has stayed with him to this day, like it will for all of you.

Hope you enjoy this, it's rather special.

In 1977 I was in my fifth year at Aberdeen Grammar School and had been a member of their dramatic society since my first year. By that time I was stage director and set designer. I do not recall how I became aware of SYT but the interview was quite galling for a 16 year old. It was before a panel of 3 and I made a presentation based on my design for “The Long and the short & the Tall” which included a model set that I still have.In addition there was some form of group activity that as a backstage person was somewhat alien!
A few weeks later I received a letter advising that I’d been selected to attend the summer school in Edinburgh. My attendance was sponsored by the Gulbenkein Trust and of course my own parents. It was made clear that money would not be an obstacle and various trusts and organisations were professionally lobbied to support the venture.The summer school extended for around 5 weeks during which time we were accommodated in some of the traditional halls of residence of Edinburgh University. 1977 was a beautiful summer and to be living within a glass quad was perfect.Most of us had our own rooms that were segregated with boys and girls on separate floors. There was a communal lounge and we ate meals in a dining room with pre allocated tables with a bizarre ritual involving a napkin. Every weekday morning we were collected by bus and transported to Moray house which was a theatre within the department of education. I would describe it as low tech but it was a labyrinth with a colourful caretaker come props maker in the basement blaring out opera music.Initially we were all together in workshop classes where we worked through improvisations and I learnt to tango. I recall it all being very collaborative with very few egos. There were a few boys who had acted on TV or had already established themselves but overall be we all just got one with it.After a couple of weeks the two productions were cast and we stage craft people went our own separate way. The two productions were “Just a Joust” ; a child oriented production designed as a matinee show. The other production was “Oh what a lovely peace” that was specifically written for the SYT and concerned the development and deployment of the atomic bomb. This was a strange theme in 1977, which although within the Cold War many assumed CND to be a 60’s anachronism.I was disappointed that we were not involved with the set design. We did however construct the set and many of the props. An essential component of the production was back projection of nuclear war imagery. This involved me watching hours of contemporary film and selecting frames to be projected at key times. Another part of the design required posters and I spent several days walking around Edinburgh locating and persuading companies to give posters that could be incorporated within the set.The public productions were held in the final week. There were many long hours of rehearsal as the script changed, parts developed and roles changed.Compared with my role at the Grammar School I was somewhat underutilised but was determined to get the most out of the experience. I made loads of suggestions and worked hard to maximise my involvement.1977 was another time. With no mobile phones, texting, internet or facebook we were indeed isolated from our friends and family. As such we formed a cohesive group. I did not consider myself an old looking 16 year old but anyway I was able to be served to keep within the group of older participants who formed the stage management cadre. As with most productions the performances grew tighter as the shows progressed until the final night. The final night was very special. The production was a clever mix of media for its time. Whilst our youth may have undermined the gravitas it underlined the poignancy of the subject.For me the two greatest moments were the singing of “We’ll have Manhattan” originally sung by Ella FitzGerald and incorporated to reflect the Manhattan Project itself and then the finale, which involved me waiting under stage and then during a blackout lighting and placing a menorah of joss sticks in silence.Afterwards we all left Moray House for the last time and headed back to the halls. We spent the remainder of the night and well into the morning making adolescent promises of undying commitment while signing copies of the play programmes and playing guitars, pianos. I have no doubt that any one of those 100 people had more talent than the wanabees that parade before us in tv talent shows. Yes everyone wanted to be famous, but more than that they wanted to succeed as an actor, singer, dancer, designer or such. We lived together for 5 special weeks in a very special Scottish summer. As we were collected by our parents and Jaguars, Bentleys and Morris Minors betrayed the equality enjoyed over those weeks we all knew that something special had happened and would be a part of us in the future.For me, I returned to Aberdeen and under the inspiration of the charismatic Annie Inglis became the youngest designer and stage director of the local amateur dramatic company. As I approach my 50th birthday after a life in commerce and now sitting as a Judge in England I have nothing but fond memories of my time in the SYT. I am delighted that it has gone from strength to strength and am confident that the current participants will look back in 2043 with the same smile on their lips as wonderful faces, falls and laughter return to their minds.

Gordon Walters.

Survival guide - How to cope without Summer Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:07:00 +0000

These tips are merely suggestions from Scottish Youth Theatre's (at times rather dim) Marketing Officer. Scottish Youth Theatre is not responsible for any repercussions experienced by any of you silly enough to try these out at home (so in short, probably best not to). Here we go ...

1) Hypno therapy. You can use this to either sedate the insurmountable feeling of grief with which you are now afflicted or, to transport yourself back to the dates between the 5Th July - 7Th August 2010. Chanting helps. "God's Will" / "Hurray for Captain Phoebus" / the song from Norwegian Wood that gets faster and faster - that will work especially well.

Unfortunately, hypnotherapy can be pricey. I suggest fashioning (unless you have a metronome to hand, I don't know, you might) a hypno device out of a baseball cap with a tea spoon sellotaped to the front so it dangles in front of you. Sway your head from side to side. Easy.

2) Communicate only with fellow participants. By blocking out your immediate surroundings, you will be able to recreate the feeling of being on Summer Festival remotely. This can be tricky. So use a multi pronged approach - facebooking, emailing, phone calls and text messages all simultaneously. Another draw back of this is that you hog all of your household's means of communication, thus pricey & time consuming and not likely to be all that endearing to those that you live with.

3) Recreate the production that you were in by using print outs & cuddly toys. Blow up the images, print them out and then cut out the heads of the cast. Then stick the heads to any cuddly toys you have. Using old shoe boxes and more print outs of the production shots, recreate the set. Really small sticks are useful for set / props too. Or really small twigs, in a puppet show style with bits of the set / props stuck to them. Eugh no, actually forget that ... puppets are CREEEEEEEEEPY! No puppet like behavior. Absolutely not, shudder.

4) For the next 3 months, dress in the style of your character / one of your favourites if you played a few. This should prove very diverting as one production was set in the 11Th century, another in 18Th century Paris and another in a woodland in Norway. You will be so inundated with questions about your 'new look' you won't have time to be sad about not being at Summer Festival. Accents could be incorporated here, too.

5) Start writing "SYT - THE MUSICAL!". Audiences have been crying out for a show of this nature for, oh, positively a very long time. It should last no less than 2 hours (each way) and feature a minimum of 25 songs. The choreography should incorporate influences from the can-can, to street dance, tap, classical ballet, with a recurring parcours theme to be employed as much as possible. Plot should feature building supervisor James Rooney as the Hero, script based on Shakesperean tragicomedy. That's enough of a brief for now.

6) Start fund raising for next year - now.

7) Remember, it could be worse. You could be (insert name of one of the screeds of shamed celebrities). I'll let you use your own imagination for that bit.

3 & 5 week party

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:15:00 +0000

They asked me to take this one.

This one started off as a group shot, that Scott then sabotaged.

A teeny spot of whinging about the song choices eventually descended into, well, see for yourself ... See microphone, seize microphone become a karaoke tour de force. Or something along those lines.

The Court of Miracles

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, you are - not so cordially ;) - invited to enter the Court of Miracles ...

Jerusalem: The Song of Deeds

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 15:38:00 +0000

This year Summer Festival includes a World Premiere as part of its programme - Jerusalem: the Song of Deeds.

The cast, creative & production teams have been in rehearsals for several weeks now and the results of their efforts are really special, as was witnessed in yesterday's dress rehearsal. The story of Parzefal and Mira is touching and believable, whilst characters like King Tafur and Bohemond are terrifying. And in amongst the gripping plot lines, Peter Arnott manages to throw in a good few laughs as well as some catchy numbers ("glory glory!", loved that). Top all of this off with a beautifully skillful set design, plus the odd special effect and you've got what's going to be a bit of an epic production. That's all I'm saying, don't want to spoil the element of surprise. So get your tickets here. And hope you like the photos. Courtesy of Douglas Robertson.

Aberdeen Civic Reception - 21 July 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:52:00 +0000

Some great, not to mention very professional shots, of the Aberdeen Civic Reception. Love the suit Bruce!

Held at the Town House in Aberdeen, the participants treated everyone to a song and Philip Napier gave a few words about his experiences with SYT over the years. How he manged to narrow it down to a few is a miracle as Phil's been involved with SYT a huge amount! Dignitaries in attendance: Lord Provost Peter Stephen, Cr Len Ironside, Cr Ron Clark, Chief Executive Sue Bruce and Donald Urquhart Head of Housing & Community Safety.

The Adventures start tomorrow!

noreply@blogger.com (Scottish Youth Theatre) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:35:00 +0000

The preview show of Norwegian Wood took place today in the Pink Room. The story of wee Izzy and her baby brother Hamish starts off a in a heart wrenching way but the Reid girls turn things around with their magical ability to tell some fantastic stories from Norway. Get your tickets here.

Being inside the transformed Pink Room really does feel like a mystical woodlands and as the story unfolds, lots of 'special effects' pop up here and there, enhancing the enchanting effect.

Designed for little people, this show is ideal for families and wee brothers and sisters. But the little person inside everyone will no doubt enjoy this unique tale too :)

Images courtesy of Douglas Roberston.