this month's
Ink Pellet contains
The National Plan for Drama and Theatre Education
Following feedback from drama teachers, educators and other interested parties, The National Plan for Drama and Theatre Education document is now completed and you can find a direct link to the pdf here. This is a mammoth achievement and a feat of collaboration. It has been widely circulated including to the DfE Team, whose members are also […]
BROADWAY LICENSING GLOBAL OFFERS UK TEACHERS FREE PERUSALS FOR HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD SECONDARY SCHOOL EDITION
The Critically Acclaimed Show Has Now Been Adapted for UK Secondary Schools (London)—Broadway Licensing Global London, Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions are thrilled to announce that secondary school teachers can now sign up for a free perusal script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Secondary School Edition. BLG London […]
A Final Haunt
After 33 extraordinary years, Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black will haunt the stage of the Fortune Theatre for the final time, as the production ends in the West End on Saturday 4th March 2023. PW Productions announce that after 33 extraordinary years in London’s West End, the theatrical sensation that is Susan Hill’s THE […]
Reaching for the Moon
Susan Elkin paid a visit to Half Moon theatre in London’s East End to chat with CEO Chris Elwell about their extensive education outreach and innovative theatre programmes. Half Moon Theatre sits in the heart of Limehouse in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, spitting distance from the DLR and mainline station. Formerly a pretty […]
National Youth Theatre Rep Company
The National Youth Theatre’s Rep Company is celebrating its first ten years and Susan Elkin paid a visit to learn more. Each year a group of fifteen or so talented NYT members, aged 18 to 25, are selected by audition to join this company. In just a few months they rehearse three shows, many of […]
Apprenticeships
An important and often overlooked route into the industry, especially for many non-performing roles. Susan Elkin has some suggestions. Theatre is like an iceberg. For every role on stage there are probably at least half a dozen technicians you can’t see. And the industry has been telling us for decades that there are skills shortages […]
School Shows
Never underestimate the power of a school production – for every single person involved. When you meet former students, sometimes from decades back in my case, it’s usually taking part in Oliver! or A Midsummer Night’s Dream that they reminisce about with shining eyes. Most importantly it’s a terrific bonding exercise. We hear a lot […]
New Perspectives
With three separate Lucian Freud exhibitions currently on, Graham Hooper took time to visit and here is his review of these contrasting shows. LLucian Freud would have been 100 this year, and that’s a good excuse to look back over his life and work, but especially his work, as the two have a rather nasty […]
Grandad Anansi – Half Moon Theatre
Predicated partly on Black History Month, Elayne Ogbeta’s muliti-layered play presents Grandad (Marcus Hercules) and his primary school age granddaughter, Abi (Jazmine Wilkinson) in his garden. Like everything else in this show, the garden designed by Sorcha Corcoran, is beautiful with lots of colour, light and plants that Grandad knows by name and talks to. […]
Theatre Review – The King of Nothing – Little Angel Theatre
Ben Glasstone’s charming, witty account of The Emperor Who Has No Clothes works well for two main reasons. First it is one of the most perceptive stories ever written, dealing as it does with vanity, self delusion, conformity and truth. It’s both topical and timeless. Second, we have a cost of living crisis and the […]
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The novel has acquired iconic status since its publication in 1981. And David Wood’s sensitive dramatization, after opening at Chichester, enjoying two West End runs and now touring until the end of May, is rapidly going the same way. And it gets better each time I see it. Evacuee Willie Beech, abused by his mentally […]
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By Katy Wix Published by Oberon Books Regularly seen showcasing her comic talents on our small screens, this second volume of short comic monologues from Katy Wix offers a wonderful collection of witty, original audition speeches or showcase pieces. Although essentially written for women, many of these can be applied/adapted for male performers too. Each […]
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by Mark Fisher Published by Bloomsbury Whether you are a student looking to enhance your critical writing skills for A Level, telling your friends about a show you’ve seen or planning a career as a theatre critic – or indeed already a critic – this book offers great advice. Drawing on his long years of […]
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By Fraser Grace and Clare Bayley Published by Bloomsbury Full of inspiration and practical advice, Playwriting: A Writers’ & Artists’ Companion is a comprehensive companion to writing for the stage. Divided into three parts: PART 1 includes reflections on the art and the craft of playwriting, guidance on writing for a full range of genres […]
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Gill Lewis, 48 who trained and worked as a vet, is the author of novels about animals often being treated badly by humans usually for political or economic reasons. Her books for young adults include Moon Bear, White Dolphin and Sky Hawk all published by OUP. Her latest is Gorilla Dawn about rebels, industrialisation and […]
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Given how many films and TV adaptations there have been over the years it takes real imaginative flair to do something original with this text. Sally Cookson and her team have certainly come up with a different concept. The Littleton proscenium is presented as a huge white curtained hollow box within which designer Michael Vale […]
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Recently the opportunity arose within my GCSE Drama group for a few of us to go to the Gulbenkian Theatre, a small theatre on campus at the University of Kent in Canterbury, to watch a production of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, one of his most well-known and macabre tragedies. I decided I would go, as I […]
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Artistic Director Paul Roseby has expanded the National Youth Theatre beyond all recognition with a great team of directors, writers and staff working closely to enable his creative vision and here takes us through a typically busy day It’s the wrong side of 7am. John Humphries wakes me up. I switch him off. Sorry John, […]
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A LOTT TO SEE Pixie Lott is to star in a new production of Breakfast At Tiffany’s. The multi award-winning singer plays Holly Golightly in this classic tale, written by Truman Capote and so memorably portrayed by Audrey Hepburn in the iconic 1961 film. It is being given a new lease […]
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Slyvia Young OBE, the doyenne of theatre education for children, talks to SUSAN ELKIN about her life, future plans, and why her love for the theatre is as strong as ever.