It’s hard to know where to begin talking about First Bite Youth Theatre – as a member for 10 years, you can probably imagine why! My overarching and most consistent memory, though, is how accepted and loved I felt as a part of the group – as a precocious kid with a dramatic streak a mile wide, I often felt like I didn’t really have a place amongst my peers. First Bite gave me a home, and so much more – I don’t know who I would be now, in my mid-twenties, if I hadn’t had the group (and Rebecca, who I couldn’t forget if I tried!) while I was growing up. It didn’t seem to matter which walk of life we came from, what age we were, or any of the other arbitrary things that otherwise might separate us – everyone was equal, and everyone was important to the group in their own way. The foundations First Bite gave me in group work, in community, and in commitment to an outcome are things which have stuck with me ever since I left the group in 2011.I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun as I did every Thursday after school, and I think it’s testament to Rebecca’s talent, empathy, and encouragement that she managed to take the lot of us and transform us from a group of nervous kids into the Forty Thieves, or villagers undergoing the change of industrial revolution, or a Native American tribe. To return to shows now and see a whole new generation of kids and young adults benefiting from First Bite warms my heart; to know that they’ll have such wonderful memories encourages me to look back over my own (and very often laugh – to see the final result at the end of term, you might never believe just how silly we could get!). From playing Alice in Wonderland in my very first show to Electra in my very last, every single day with First Bite was an adventure – long may it continue!
Sara Lally (2001 – 2011)
