Apply now for Young Co. 2013

For senior students and recent school leavers...

Led by Community Drama Director Neil Packham, Young Co. is now looking for new members. You can apply now to be part of the company in 2013. From total newbies to experienced performers, if you're aged from 18-22 years, we'd love you to be part of our company.

You can download full details of 2013 activities along with an application form on the Young Co. page on our website.

The deadline is 21 December, so make sure you act now before it's too late.

Claire's blog - Summer school and beyond

Regular Young Co. member Claire Dyer blogged for us about the recent summer school week and her own exciting news:

Summing up this Young Co Summer School week without giving away too much about our upcoming new play will be barely possible - but I'll try.

This week we were joined by the lovely Darren who on day one (after the first in a series of strenuous warm-ups) had us moving as the elements - air, water, fire, earth. I was intrigued by the power of air, in that it is inescapably needed. Creating our representations of the elements to music was fascinating. On Tuesday we bumped it up a notch and, with animal characteristics and traits, conducted a frantic search for a certain Tall Tales character who you'll meet in October. The image of Scott leading this procession of personified animals as the elegant, strong stag will bring a smile to my face for a long time yet. Scott and Rehanna's movement instructor Jayne also joined us on Wednesday and taught us how to move fluently and intricately, shifting and sharing weight. This was picked up again by Darren on Friday morning before a game of "Eastenders" which went above and beyond the realms of good old fashioned Whoosh!


(Photo of Claire from the Rosey Project)

Meanwhile, Scott "the music man" worked with us on creating a lovely piece of Scottish music - rather nostalgic of The Singing Kettle or any of the Scots/Gaelic children's programmes we used to watch as kids. We read through the play, ironed out any issues with the text - particularly its authentic Scots dialect - and worked scenes of it on its feet. It was also good to have Mairi with us on Wednesday and Friday afternoon.

It brings me great sadness to admit that this will be my last blog for some time, but from juggling unravelling pairs of socks in a circle to miming horror scenes of childbirth, this week has been the greatest send-off ever. The movement skills and techniques that Darren and Jayne have taught us been a brilliant head start for the sort of work I'll be doing in Manchester - not to mention adding a whole new layer of creative expression to the production - and it's amazing to see all the new faces of the Young Co, which I'm sure will continue to grow and thrive forever!

Right til the last minute, Neil and Louise were giving me excellent advice, and I can safely affirm that if it wasn't for the Citizens Theatre and all the wonderful people I've met and worked with, and the unique opportunities I've had, I wouldn't be going to do this job. It starts in less than two weeks, and from now until next July I will be touring the UK with a company called Rhema who focus mostly on children's theatre and are based in Manchester.



Tall Tales For Small People will be one of the Young Co's greatest and most memorable challenges yet and I know without a doubt they'll pull it off - and then some. I regret not being able to be part of it in many ways, but I am also excited to come and see it, having been involved in the early stages of its development this week - and I hope you all will be too.

Thank you all from the depths of my heart.
Be back before you know it.

C x

"To keep the light, of our legacy of hope, burning"

Scott from Young Co. writes about his experiences working on the Voices From The Holocaust project:

“Holla amigos! By the way if you guys don't already know by now, I'm not too good with the whole blogging shindig, so please bear with me. Well...where to begin. When Neil first mentioned this project to the Young Company I knew I had to become a part of it. Now that might sound a bit big headed, but hear me out first. The topic of the Holocaust was and still is a very important subject to me, personally, and I wanted to use the knowledge I already had to educate the young people about the past. That was my mission. Help them remember those that perished and why we should never allow the Holocaust to be repeated.



So many things have happened over the course of the project, and it's been a very moving experience. So many things actually I'm going to struggle to put everything on this here lovely blog. Over the performances, ranging from secondary schools to the City Chambers, from the Glasgow Film Theatre to the wonderful Citizens Theatre itself, I took many notes on what was going on at these locations. Instead of giving you a long list of bullet-pointed data, I'm going to give you my version of the events, the human version. The very thing which we were performing in the piece; the personal stories of the past.

Like many of my fellow Company members, I auditioned for a place on the project, but knowing only four of us could get positions placed a justified sense of nervousness on me. I can't remember how many exactly auditioned but it was well more than four. Neil than dropped the bombshell when interviewing after: I would have to cut my hair really short. Now if any of you fine people came to see ''Lend Me Your Ears'', you may have seen yours truly sporting a rather full head of curly hair. The prospect of this happening was always there, I knew that and was prepared to do it. Nevertheless when the time came I didn't enjoy it. A necessary sacrifice I told myself. The resulting project members that were selected were myself, Jack, Rehanna and Keren. I offer my condolences to my fellow members who auditioned, but I'll be honest I was glad I got a place. I mean this was a chance to represent the Citizens Theatre, around the city and a chance for me to really educate by doing something I loved.....That kind of opportunity doesn't come round often.



Work began full-on in early January, we all met up before Christmas and discussed the details of the project with Neil and Louise. It was at this point we were issued our 'homework'. Over the Christmas period we were each to research testimonies from Holocaust survivors, more specifically survivors from Auschwitz. I moaned non-stop about the temperature of the room, it was freezing. I'm talking Arctic temperatures here. Funnily enough it was these cold work rooms that allowed me to focus into the work, helped me get into these people's shoes. That was the first step towards building a character, in my mind at least, the cold. Returning after Christmas and we had all brought lots of material to work with. The play was supposed to be twenty minutes long, so we had to cut certain stories. This felt kind of disrespectful as not all these stories were being told, but I'm afraid that for the purposes of the piece it had to be done. The first readings of the pieces were, really quite disheartening. Although stories of survival and hope, I couldn't help feel down beat. Progress was rife however. We had selected the pieces which sounded the most interesting to us, in a performance sense, by the first day and by day two we already had a rugged running order. I remember feeling really good about the progress. Within the fourth day we had begun putting movements to the pieces and by the end of the week we had a complete play, with a slight story arc involving stories from before the war begun to the liberation of the camps.



The week beginning the schools’ tour and we were all quite perky, really up for the task ahead, but over the course the week I found myself more and more drained by the experience. I was nervous about showing to school children, as I knew what their responses would be. I too would have done it as a child, the nervous laughter and so on. Contrary to my beliefs all the schools we went to had magnificent responses to the piece and I have to admit that the questions and comments they made during the Q and A surprised me. Some questions genuinely challenged us. We did our best to answer them, but in my opinion I believe we had done our job by showing them the piece to begin with. It got them thinking. Even when we left the school, I believe the piece stayed with them. Asking themselves questions as well as their peers, and that was one of our goals. We had many different venues and audience sizes so our performance was never the same twice, which kept our energy levels up. This was until the end of each day were I, personally, found myself falling asleep once I got home. I remember once sleeping for twelve hours when I arrived. I wasn't the only one, we were all feeling the strain. By the end of the tour week, we were exhausted. It was all I could do to wake up at the weekend.



It was dawn. Sunday. I got up extra early. It was the day of the Glasgow Film Theatre performance. I was not so much nervous at performing at this point but at finding the actual building. I'm not joking here, I couldn't find it. I eventually found it when backtracking. I was the first one there. The place was quiet, apart from a few people in the bar, where I decided to have a drink of juice while waiting for the others. I sat in the bar of the GFT and the realisation of what was happening hit me; I was in a theatre group who was not only representing the Citizens but the people of the Holocaust. The survivors and those that didn't. I had a slight moment of panic and rushed into the toilet. I was breathing heavily as I splashed my face with water. I knew it was a big responsibility but then I realised it was also a great honour. To give the people of the Holocaust, the ''little people'', the people who didn't get recognised by the mass media, a voice. A chance to be heard. To not be forgotten. This calmed me as I went back to the bar. Later on the rest of the cast and crew arrived and we prepared for the performance. More and more arrived into the theatre as we had our own personal warm-ups. The audience sat and so did we. We all watched the short film made by Shawlands Academy. It moved me, very deeply. So much so I didn't move the entire showing. Nobody did. It ended and there was a deep respect as we were introduced onto the performance area. In my lines in the piece, I was on the brink of tears. The short film had moved me so greatly. We finished the piece and sat on our chairs ready for the audience's comments. The comments made by the people in the audience were very touching. One person, who we later found out to be an actual Holocaust survivor, said our piece was the thing that he could most relate to out of all the films, plays and shows he'd seen. As you can guess, this humbled us to the point of silence. I remember having my jaw dropped in reverence to this man's comment. A great compliment, which I didn't know how to thank. Myself, Rehanna, Keren and Jack were stunned by it. It was at this point we met Seth, the film director who filmed, directed and edited the short film from Shawlands Academy. He expressed his deep congratulations to us and his deep desire to film our piece. I was interested in the prospect but doubted it due to false promises in the past. Long story, and I won't go there. The day ended with farewells to friends and family, as we knew we still had two more performances left.



Tuesday. The day of the City Chambers and Citizens Theatre performances. Another grand day of reverence and respect to the Holocaust. We performed with microphones, which was strange, but I'll be honest I felt a little empowered by it. This meant however greater diction was demanded from us, as our booming voices would be heard but our words would be missed. When it came to the Citizens performance, we were ready for the finale. The one last show before the end. I'll admit that I was completely run down by the whole project. I knew that it was to be expected, but I still wasn't prepared for the effect of the characterisation. We finished it and a tremendous amount of relief washed over me. I got downstairs and started mingling with the audience, they were complimenting us all every minute or so. I found myself saying ''Thank you'' very rapidly. I found my fellow cast members utilizing the free wine at the bar. I don't like wine, but I enjoyed myself nevertheless by laughing at their drunken antics. I won't name names, but they know who they are. Suddenly I got hit with a bombshell: we got the green light for the filming. I was stunned. I didn't think it would happen. But it looked like it would happen. Excitement pumped through me like the many pints of blood that keep me standing. Knowing full well the high quality of the short film, I wondered what our piece would be like filmed.



The filming began a week later. Inside the Citizens Circle studio. Many angles were shot, lots of time was used and lots of Irn-Bru was drunk, on my part that is. I've got a bit of filming experience so I wasn't too fazed by the cameras, and the others handled themselves well also. When they said that this film would be seen by school kids, not only in Glasgow, but in the whole of Scotland, I knew I had done my job. The personal mission which I had taken into the project was going to be completed.

Now we come to the end of this project, called ''Voices Of The Holocaust''. I know I will never forget this experience. I find myself even now typing this blog, reliving every moment it describes. Hopefully you will too. If you do you will be helping me fulfil my mission. To remember the past. To not forget. To learn from our mistakes. To keep the light, of our legacy of hope, burning.”



''Do not fear shadows, for it simply means there is a light shining nearby''

Scott McKay.

See the rest of the Voices From The Holocaust photos here.

Young Co. talk about Holocaust project

Following up Neil's AudioBoo from last week, I caught up with two Young Co. members today, who are in filming Voices From The Holocaust today so that their performance can be distributed to schools across Scotland along with the Auschwitz film created by students from Shawlands Academy.

Scott and Rehanna told me about their experiences working on this project:





Hx

Voices From The Holocaust

This week members of Citizens Young Co. have been out on tour in Glasgow schools performing a piece they created using words of Holocaust survivors.

I spoke to Neil Packham, Community Drama Director to find out more:



Hx

"It hits your heart. Your lungs. Everywhere."

Holla amigos! This is my second blog so please, bear with me. I'm here to tell all you fine people about the Citizens Theatre Young Co.'s latest production, Lend Me Your Ears, and my own personal thoughts on the performances over the course of the three nights we were performing.



In the beginning, I wasn't very confident in the whole concept. We were to be performing Shakespeare's ''Greatest Hits'' and given the few rehearsals each piece had, I was really worried that we would fumble and taint the Bard's works with idiocy and lack of focus. I feel that Shakespeare's works are the most beautiful and powerful pieces of theatre in existence and I didn't think that we were going to be able to do them the justice they deserved. We had so little rehearsal time, my Romeo and Juliet piece only had three rehearsals before the actual performance nights. I realise this was necessary and all, but it didn't help the great frustration I was feeling. My confidence in the performance was lowered still with the improvised scene: ''Lear Luvies''. I honestly thought that this scene was not funny and that the audience wouldn't laugh. All these things gave me great tension and worry before the actual performance nights.



The first night was quite an experience for me. For many reasons. One being that I was to begin the performance out in the main foyer, which in itself isn't very conventional and was quite nerve racking. I wasn't confident that my voice could fill the hall and that the audience would switch off to mine and Rehanna's performance. These thoughts were racing through my head before we suited up in costumes, and were actually making me really worried. I had to do a massive vocal and body warm-up before the performance to calm me down, if that makes any sense. When I started the performance I couldn't have been more nervous, I jumped up on that chair and saw the whole audience staring at me. I spoke and they listened! They were tuned into the dialogue even if I did have to jump over banisters and run past the audience members. After beckoning them upstairs I felt so much better. When performing the ''Lear Luvies'' scene, the audience loved it! They were in hysterics! In that moment all my worries for the performance dissipated and I knew that we had nailed it.



The second night was even better. I started my Romeo scene and the crowd was bigger! This threw me into overdrive and I really enjoyed myself. I felt like I was back in my starting years, back in secondary school, the first time that rush of adrenaline hits the back of your neck. It hits your heart. Your lungs. Everywhere. The audience loved the whole performance. Every piece, at their end, received a round of applause. It really did feel like the ''Greatest Hits'' of Shakespeare.

The third and final night was the big finale. I was a bit laid back. Maybe too calm but when Chris came off-stage, he was absolutely buzzing! His reaction alone spurred me on and the final night felt like the greatest. With my last piece I fed right off the audience and delivered a very solid and energetic performance, well in my eyes at least. It wasn't just me either. All the cast went all-out with their pieces, knowing full well that after tonight there would be no performance. We were louder, stronger, more energised and were having fun. Actually enjoying the role you have and the time you have on stage is one of the most important parts of being an actor, again this is my opinion, and I can't speak for my fellow performers out there...



In the end, it all came together. The less than desired rehearsal times, the worry of not giving the works we had been handed the proper respect they demanded and indeed my own personal stresses, disappeared when we actually performed. Thanks to the huge amount of talent, commitment and dedication within the company, we rocked the Circle Studio! But more importantly we did the pieces justice and honestly?.....I think Shakespeare himself would be proud!

''We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded in a sleep''
Prospero, The Tempest

Scott McKay (Young Co. member)

See more photos on Flickr.
Photos by Helen Black

Some birthday present!

Happy 21st birthday to Young Co. member Chris McCann who is celebrating his birthday in style by taking on his very first part in a professional show at the Citizens Theatre.

Chris has a small part in Guy Hollands's Othello, which commenced rehearsals this morning.

Chris, who is studying acting at Langside College will have a hectic week ahead in the run up to a show at The Arches this weekend and evening rehearsals for Lend me Your Ears. I think he'll have Shakespeare coming out of his ears!!

Good luck Chris and congratulations from all of us!

Hx

This View of Life

Just read Claire's blog on The Rosey Project, which I found really interesting. It was a great project for YOUNG CO to take part in and again I was very proud of their performance, I know it was an emotional rollercoaster for them. However they more than rose to the challenge and created an incredibly poigniant and appropriate piece of work that deserved the tremendous response from the delegates at the conference...well done to all concerned!

Now...This View of Life, a performance and workshop focusing on Charles Darwin and his evolutionary theories, that in a couple of weeks time will be performed in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow to primary 6/7 school children, before moving onto Summerlee Heritidge Park and eventually the National Library of Scotland. Myself as director, Peter Arnott as writer and 4 professional actors are at the end of our first week of rehearsals and what a week it has been?! When we met on Monday, we first looked at the set model, which got us all instantly excited...a time machine built of dinosaur bones called the Darwinascope...now that's not something that you see every day at work. We then went on to read the script, everyone had something to say about it and we all felt very challenged, not least of all the writer. However, the actors really brought it to life even in this first read through and it is going to prove a very entertaining piece, that I'm sure will inspire the young audience to look at the world in live in in a different way. It's a short rehearsal period for such a big subject and it is so easy to be side-tracked into deep conversations about Darwins theory but we have to move on, otherwise we might be dependent on the 'time machine' to get us out of a difficult situation come 2 weeks , when the performance has to be ready !

The Rosey Project - Young Co. tackle sexual bullying

Five members of Young Co. recently devised a performance addressing issues around rape and sexual bullying. This was performed at the Coming of Age schools’ conference at Hampden. Claire Dyer blogged about the project:

"The issues that Rape Crisis and The Rosey Project, as well as all the other organisations supporting and involved in the conference we performed at, deal with, are issues I feel very strongly about - and that's why I was intrigued and excited to hear about the project during the week of (Young Co.) summer school. However, actually working on the project led me to realise that just agreeing with something, or disagreeing with something, isn't much unless you act on it. Acting on it - so to speak - sent us on an emotional roller-coaster. It's a delicate subject, each aspect throwing into conversation things you wouldn't talk about every day. We discovered on the most practical of levels why it's not an every day discussion. Maybe if we did talk, rape and sexual bullying would be minimised.



On the first day of rehearsals, Keren, Chris, James, Emma and I - along with the directors, Elly and Kate - met with Paula and Julie from The Rosey Project, and spent the morning discussing the bearing that the media has on sexual bullying and violence. Paula and Julie had brought with them "media boards" - magazine collages in the following categories: girls between the ages of three and ten; boys between the ages of three and ten; teenage girls (10-16); women's lifestyle magazines; men's lifestyle magazines; and tabloid newspapers. I didn't expect to be shocked by what I saw that morning, but nonetheless, I was. The categories displayed a very sinister agenda, and I found the media boards displayed around the room with us all in the middle to be a powerful statement in itself. We split into pairs and discussed the boards one by one, which is the set up of the work shops that Paula and Julie take into schools.

We wrapped up in the early afternoon so that we could all go away and think, which is exactly what I did, to the point where the next day I realised what I'd got myself into with the project and just how demanding, challenging, and difficult it was going to be. We had decided to devise the piece we would ultimately take to the Coming Of Age conference, and so on the first day, we were asked to try and come up with some ideas in writing. I write every day, but this time, I drew a blank - especially after reading the informative leaflets we had been given by Paula and Julie.



The project was a real challenge, in ways I didn't think of to begin with. There were other thoughts and suggestions to dilute the discomfort the following morning, however. James's ideas, in particular, were very intricate and powerful. We went round the circle and discussed our feelings, opinions and questions about the project before starting, and then almost immediately started the devising process.



The piece starts innocent, light and entertaining, and slowly builds and darkens towards its empowering and proactive conclusion. This is almost exactly how the devising process went; we were eased into this play just as much as the audience at the conference - and it's just as well! On the third day of rehearsals, the darkness really began to come into play, via the altogether comical scene, "Slabber", which features us all being stereotypical men, including the girls. Loud, crass, neddy, and armed with men's mags - this scene led straight into the first full confrontal of sexual assault where I had the privilege of delivering the line that would echo all the way through the play: "If I was your mother, or your sister, or your girlfriend, would you treat me with the same contempt? Well? Would you?"



At the end of that rehearsal, we sat round in a circle and we discussed the next steps in the structure of the play, with a view to adding in a bit of melodrama, and even - keeping with the commencement of rehearsals for Lend Me Your Ears - a bit of Shakespeare, in the form of an extract from The Rape of Lucrece, which Keren brought to the table. The following Monday, we moved from the circle rehearsal room to the stalls studio, which became a comfort zone for us, and we worked our way to the end of the play. From then on in, it was a case of running through, tidying up, adding in and taking out. Costumes were decided on - skirts for the girls, and hats for when we're acting as boys - and so were props, and set designs.



The day before the conference, we spent the whole morning taking notes, stopping and starting and running through, after three nerve wracking days of no rehearsals, and then in the afternoon we did a full performance for a group of our friends at the Citz. We were also lucky enough to have Paula and Julie joining us for this performance. It went well, was met with an encouraging response from all, and at the end we felt we had come on miles and put the final piece in the jigsaw.



Performing at Hampden was an experience all on its own. We were given a room to leave our stuff and rehearse in, which concealed behind the curtain a director's box overlooking the stadium. When we arrived we did a sound check, and topped and tailed the entire piece in the venue, before rehearsing in the room, warming up, and heading on in at just after eleven. Even with the new staging - after being so used to the stalls studio at the Citz - the performance ran really smoothly and we got incredible feedback from the audience. After an afternoon of chatting with others from schools and organisations and taking part in workshops, we left on an absolute high, agreeing that the day had been an amazing success and could not have gone any better. And the fact that we made an impact and communicated a vitally important message is all that matters.

Claire Dyer"

Young Co. Summer School

Last week Young Co. had their annual week-long summer school. This week of drama workshops is designed not only to improve skills and strengthen relationships, but also to start the build up to the autumn's production, which this year is Lend Me Your Ears - a night of the best bits from Shakespeare.

OK, we know it's impossible to choose the best bits, but there'll be loads of great stuff. Young Co. worked mostly with Neil and Louise throughout the week, but had a visit from a firm Citz favourite Paddy Cuneen (I can say that, cause I was lucky enough to work with him once in Nightschool).

Paddy worked with the group to write a song that will feature in Lend me Your Ears. I'm hoping to get a video clip of this from Rea, if we can figure out how to get our phones talking to each other.

I didn't have a huge amount of time, but managed to grab some snaps of Young Co. on Friday afternoon.



Hx

...the living is easy

Crikey, I've just realised how long its been since we've posted on the TAG blog.

With our second ever Summer Academy just finished, everyone is breathing a collective sigh of relief and satisfaction at another successful programme of workshops.

We had 8 courses, and I think the general consensus was that all went very smoothly. We even managed to squeeze in a quick photoshoot for the teenagers, so that we now have a brilliant collection of photos for all age groups in our drama classes.

I also managed to pop into the Arts and Crafts club one day to snap some photos. I've posted a wee slideshow below.

We have the Young Co. Summer School starting shortly and for the rest of the summer we are building up to loads of Autumn projects, including This View of Life and Lend Me Your Ears.

...plus in the next few weeks we'll be able to tell you about a wee project where we'll need your help!

Hx

Young Co. on Radio 4.

Young Co. member Scott McKay, has sent me blog entry about his recent rather cool acting opportunity:

"Hiya!

This is my very first blog so please, bear with me. I would like to tell you fine people about a bit of work I've recently finished. I'll start from the beginning: mid-way through performing “Citizen Y-Nighthawks”, on the Thursday night if I remember correctly, Neil Packham called me and said that a woman called Pauline Harris was asking for a young Glaswegian actor, and that she was going to call me and audition me over the phone. It was at this point that I was told it was an audition for a radio play. This worried me slightly because Neil said she would call at ten to seven-half an hour before Citizen Y was due to be performed! Nevertheless I agreed anyway, can't turn down work in this business. So anyway the pre-show group voice and body warm-ups had been done-no call, we got into costume-no call and I really started to worry because I didn't want to deny myself this opportunity by switching off my phone but I didn't want my phone going off mid-show either.


Photo by Helen Black

Pauline did eventually phone me but twenty minutes before we had to start the show, so I'm sitting in the stalls theatre technical room, in full costume auditioning for a radio drama. I do my first over-the-phone audition and everything is going great,she says she can hear my character coming through really strong but I get a punch to the gut when Pauline says the director/writer is really leaning toward giving the part to a young guy he's worked with in the past. To be honest I pretty much gave up hope for the part at that point, she said I'd done well and that she'd contact me on Wednesday about whether or not I'd got the part. The audition was over, I was gutted by her remark I thought: “God I've no chance if the director is favouring another actor” but I put it at the back of my mind and went into Kevin mode ( that's my Citizen Y character by the way :] ).

A week past, Citizen Y was finished and I was considering doing some studying for my exams - but came to my senses before I did anything rash. Massive amounts of sleep and boredom started to take their toll on me, I was waking up with terrible headaches. Real bad ones. Wednesday was the worst, I was trying to survive on paracetamol and lemsips when I get the call from Pauline. I had genuinely forgotten about this and was surprised to hear her voice again. She said seven words: “We'd like to offer you the part”, those seven words instantly made my headache disappear and made my day a very happy one.


Photo by Tim Morozzo

She gave me the run-down on the plan: two days recording. I know it's not Hollywood but it's work and actors/actresses alike should know that satisfied feeling when a job pulls through, that appreciating sensation of like “Yes! Work! Finally!” or that just me? Anyway we would be recording in a hotel and in different places of the Mount Florida area. I just kept saying “uh huh...yep...thanks again”. I was in shock a little bit, I really didn't think I would get the part. It still hadn't sunk in yet even when Pauline and Andrew, her assistant, sent me the script: BBC Radio 4's “Flesh and Blood” by Gilles McKinnon. I looked at the cast list - two names stuck out to me: Gary Lewis and David Hayman. Two very well established Scottish actors who I've watched millions of times on television and film. I told my parents this and they were dancing and singing. I just sat and smiled, still in shock. I think they were more excited about the recording than me!

Day one of recording: I got to the hotel for the read-through pretty early and met Pauline, face-to-face, as well as meeting Kenny Blyth another cast member. We later moved on into the conference room where more actors/actresses started to arrive. I don't know what I was expecting but what I met were ordinary, decent people. Not one stuck up person, nobody looking down on anybody, just a band of rampant Glaswegian actors having a laugh. Even the crew, who were from Manchester, were laughing at the Scottish banter. I looked at my schedule and saw I wasn't being recorded till the end of the day, nine hours away. This is where the waiting game started. The idleness was the only negative thing about the recordings. Honestly I just slept most of the time, until needed of course then I was up like a shot that or when food was out!

Day two of recording: The feeling of idleness wasn't apparent due to me doing some scenes early in the morning. Their were problems of course, like when starting a scene outdoors someone would start up a lawnmower, ruining the mike's sound levels in the process meaning we had to keep re-locating. Although I enjoyed the recording, the actual work side of the experience, I probably enjoyed just casually talking to the actors/actresses while not recording the most. Meeting these experienced professionals has made me realise that not everybody's perfect, it's the fact that everybody's flawed in some way that makes us great characters. When I hear an actor like David Hayman being directed it makes me more confident and helps relax me in a way breathing exercises could never do.


Photo by Tim Morozzo

All in all I've had a great time, met exceptional characters and gained some reputation with the television and film-making community in Scotland so here's hoping more work arrives! This is all thanks to Neil, Pauline, Andrew, Gilles - everyone who helped me thanks again. Adios amigos!!!"

Hx

Citizen Y

Here's some of the feedback we received for Citizen Y last week:

“A fine portrayal of everyday young life, where some are fine with joining the revellers and getting drunk while others search for the deeper meaning. It was well choreographed and it made me think about life and materialism”

“Tonight, we seen Nighthawks – Citizen Y. We think Chris McCann is amazing!!!!”

“Fabulous show. 10/10. Well done Young Co! Great to see talent in Glasgow!”

“Amazing. Best show ever. Girls were so hot!!!”

“Absolutely brilliant. The acting was good and funny. And for me, young Chris McCann shone like the true future star he is. Well done all.”

“Well done. Enjoyed watching all these young people, some of whom are very talented, but just so refreshing/interesting to have a group of teenagers doing something worthwhile. Loved the music throughout!”

There were two reviews, The Scotsman and View From the Stalls

Hx

Citizen Y opens

Young Co. premièred their brand new show Citizen Y: Nighthawks last night in a busy Circle Studio. The show which was partly devised by the company was scripted by Scottish playwright Peter Arnott.

A sharp script and some fine performances had us laughing lots. Chris McCann's particularly crazy (and insightful) Wittgenstein was inspired, athough I think were too many great performances to mention.




Photos by Tim Morozzo

The show is on until Saturday. Check it out here.

Hx

P.S. This is our 200th post! Cool.

Blackout - documentary exclusive

In July 2008, a group of young actors from Citizens Young Co. took a brand new play by Davey Anderson (Snuff, Liar) to the Royal National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre in London.

Film-maker Ania Winiarska (Oval Studio) documented this trip. This fantastic short documentary shows the young people travelling to London (many for the first time) with Davey to work with the Royal National Theatre.

Following hot on the heels of the recent Blackout re-tour, we are delighted to finally make this film public.



This production was part of the Theatre of Debate series (which is part of the New Connections Programme).

Hx

Congratulations!

I am running out the door just now, so will blog about this properly next week, but I just wanted to say well done to the whole Blackout team who completed a hectic week's tour this afternoon at Shawlands Academy...in front of a massive crowd of well over 200. I was chuffed to squeeze a place in the tour van to join them for this final performance.

It's an incredible piece, performed impeccably by all 5. Well done!!

Hx








Photos by Helen Black

BLACKOUT - WEAPONS ARE FOR THE WEAK

Blackout has got to be one of.......probably the most.. (for now) challenging pieces i have taken part in. Blackout is a strong piece with a strong message. It relates to all our everyday lives in a ''positive'' or ''negative'' way. Blackout has been in places big and small, but to send it to schools is probably one of its biggest achievements to date, it's something i underestimated.

When i started the tour i knew it would be good and that it might reach out to some, but i wasn't expecting it to be so powerful. Now i know what we are taking part in, this is a chance for many today to see what could be their future. The problem is, it doesn't always turn out the way it does in Blackout, sometimes it turns out for the worst. Anyone that sees it can evaluate what might happen... ''think ahead'' something that isn't always easy to do when you're young.

The subject of the play is a common thing, which is wrong and no matter how it sounds, if the message is delivered right, then it could aid in helping the change of it all. Everyone that is taking part in the project will in some way feel they are helping people, to me that's part of what acting is about. I'm sure too a lot of us feel we could do more, show people that there is '' nuttin tae dae'' when your sitting mad wae it waiting for it to come to you, the opposite of that is finding something to do, going after something, aim to do something...once you achieve it... aim higher.

We are proud to be part of this and i hope although i am sure it isn't the end of Blackout. More than any of us ever expected, is coming from this in a small way (for now) it's making a difference. All of us involved have something to take with us, knowing that we have done something a lot of people today have stopped doing '' TRYING''!

Blackout Rocks

J

Blackout tour day three

We were panicking this morning coz at 9:28 we had everyone except Fraser, but he turned up just in the nick of time and we were off. When we got to Drumchapel we had time to set up and warm up, and they gave us coffee and biscuits which was so nice - got to have a wee cup of tea before the performance. Drumchapel was ace. The head of drama came through to say hi and it turns out she was my examiner in our Higher drama acting piece. Small world! We took the stamps out coz the floor had the same quality to it as as the street area at Lochend, but unlike Lochend, the teachers at Drumchapel were a lot more vocal.

One of the drama teachers commented that James's teacher in the play was Not helpful at all, and another came up to us at the end and told us that most of the boys who had answered our first few questions were all in a gang together, and were all up on charges relating to the issues of the play.

Before the performance today we discussed new questions to ask or statements we could include, and the suggestion of us taking a question or a statement each. A lot of pupils - including one today - said they only drink because there's nothing else to do. We wanted to challenge that by asking "If there was something to do, would you stop drinking?" and if there was something to do, what would it be? We had a question today which really changed things, when a boy asked James how he got his scar and James told him his own story. In the words of James, that shut them up!

Everyone did shut up and listen after that, it was like the barrier had just been broken down, and they were able to see that we weren't on some sort of platform, or on the level above, and that we could relate to them because we did drink underage and we did mess about and we all did stupid things and we knew what went on with knives and street fights. And I think even the staging gives way for a little bit of that - a wee bit of empathy - and that may be part of why we didn't completely get through to them at Whitehill on Monday.

After Drumchapel it was back to the Citz for a bit of lunch and then this afternoon we nicked a rehearsal room to go over tomorrow morning's reading. That should be cool, obviously won't be the same without James, but it's something a wee bit different and it'll be interesting to see just how we get on without our leading man ! The rehearsal went well, I think we're all set to go, just hope the reading fuels as much of a debate in the discussion as the play has on a good day so far.

We're halfway there (livin' on a prayer - sorry, couldn't resist!) and it's just been a great week, we all get on great as a cast, we've got a fantastic play to perform and an incredible story to tell, we get to hear the points of view of hundreds of other teenagers, we've got this big F-off van, get great skies all the way across Glasgow... it's been amazing.

Bis Morgen,

C

In the Blackout van

Today we performed Blackout to the third years in Drumchapel High and had a great discussion after the play. This is us in the van moments later...

2nd time round!

Best reaction today so far I reckon! Well, I suppose it IS only the second day of the tour but really buzzed off of the feedback this time round."Do you think we should have pubs for under-agers?" always seems to hit a nerve.... Two totally different schools where the discussion afterwards couldn't have been more different each time, but thinking on it now...everyone is essentially trying to tell us the same thing: LISTEN TO US! Which coincides with a comment I read from one of the questionnaires we recieved back from a pupil at Hillpark today......something along the lines of.... "great to be part of a discussion about things that Britain tries to hide..."

This tour is causing severe sleep deprivation, points like that are keeping me awake at night......

*Keira*