I know I’m sometimes too focused on London and the south-east. It’s partly because that’s where I live and operate and partly because it’s where a huge concentration of fine performance and education happens. But, for the record, I do worry about it and I’m well aware that most of Britain is, as it were, somewhere else and that there is good work going on in many parts of it.
That’s why I was so pleased to hear from Sarah Osborne, Artistic Director of Yew Tree Arts in Wakefield. Her new play Encounters is about two people with a history.
Maisie and Jed grew up together in Wakefield. They lived on the same street. They went to the same primary school and the same high school. Their lives entwined and enmeshed in a way that both of them assumed would always continue.
But at 18 Maisie left the area, suddenly and without explanation. From that day she and Jed have led entirely separate lives. When Jed receives a Facebook message from Maisie just before Christmas he agrees to meet her at the Hepworth Gallery. Neither realises the implications of either their separation or their reunion. But time spent in the gallery brings revelations about who they are and about their history. Gradually their potential futures emerge. You can see an extract from the play here:
Funded by Arts Council England and inspired by Barbara Hepworth’s work, Encounters is a play about what happens in the spaces in our lives, the hollows.
Yew Tree is a professional arts organisation which does training, workshops, performance and films. It specialises in partnership working, creating bespoke projects and does a lot of work with schools, health trusts and communities. Youth Tree Youth Theatre has ten different - very inclusive - groups in all of which the focus is firmly on the development of skills, confidence and self esteem.
The organisation also provides work for performers and facilitators. Of the two actors young appearing in Encounters, one is making her professional debut and applying for drama school training and the other has served an apprenticeship with Yew Tree.
Yew Tree will perform Encounters in schools as well as at The Hepworth Gallery. On Sunday 5 and Sunday 26 February there is a performance at 10.30 am in the gallery followed by a writing workshop from 12.00-4.30. Email hello@hepworthwakefield.org or call 01924 247360 to book a place. These events, which are limited to people aged 15 to 25, are free.
It sounds like a very worthwhile learning opportunity. If only I weren’t quite so far from Wakefield.
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