I had the amazing opportunity to perform with the National Youth Theatre in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Team Welcoming Ceremony. Directed by Paul Roseby, Kane Husbands and Tristan Parkes we created a show with music, dance, acrobatics, singing, poetry, puppets and many more incredible skills to welcome every country into the Olympic Village.

Before we started rehearsals those of us who lived outside of London had to find accommodation, due to the size of the cast and time in the year NYT couldn’t provide accommodation for us. For me this was a big problem as not being able to turn pay out of my own pocket I had to fundraise. I took part in a 10 Mile Triathlon that I organised and went around my local community telling my story about the opportunity I had and that the only thing which was stopping me was money. After months of fundraising I raised just under a thousand pounds and with accepting extra shifts at work I was able to afford to stay in London for this project.

This was a massive ensemble show with two casts of around 75 members we performed around eight shows a day no matter the weather.  We created and rehearsed the show in under a month in out rehearsal space at Holloway Road then moved the show to the Village for rehearsals and tech. We spent three weeks welcoming Olympic teams putting everything into each performance. We then had a break while we waited for the Paralympics to come around. We had a week’s rehearsal to refresh ourselves with the show and make some changes. Due to some cast member not being able to attend the Paralympic shows our directors had to make some changes show. In the Paralympic shows I was given the part of ‘Caller’ which involved addressing the athletes, NYT members in the show and welcoming the Olympic Village Mayor on to the stage.

This has been the best show I have been involved with, I learnt so much, developed my skills to the next level and made lifelong friends. I am so thankful to the National Youth Theatre for giving me this opportunity.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/olympicsvideo/9402568/London-2012-Olympics-National-Youth-Theatre-rehearse-Team-Welcome-Ceremonies.html