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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GRAHAM HOOPER explores the role children’s toys and games play in depicting conflict in the thought-provoking War Games exhibition currently on at the SeaCity Museum in Southampton. Could it be that guns actually look the way they do because they imitate their primitive ancestors, crafted by children playing in the woods, rather than the other […]
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Nothing boosts a child’s desire to engage than an exciting session of interactive learning. MARY HOPLEY reports on what happens when Sky Blue Theatre Company rocks into school for a breathtaking Shakespeare workshop. Facing a morning off from lessons, the excitement of the children was palpable as they filed into the hall for their Midsummer […]
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Spread your artistic wings this summer and take part in one of dozens of creative activities being run by engage, the organisation that tirelessly promotes access and enjoyment for all to the visual arts. No matter what kind of art you and your children enjoy, or even if you’ve never even thought about participating in […]
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The Classical Road Show organisation has given many thousands of children in London and the Home Counties exceptional musical experiences through its innovative concerts and workshops, and this year’s big concert experience project takes place on June 8th at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon. The project is an interactive hour-long concert for junior schools with live […]
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Published by Bloomsbury Niki Flacks is described as a director, actor, teacher and psychologist. The most pertinent role, it turns out, is the latter; for to be able to do any of the three requires knowledge of self and the human condition. A regular tutor at the Actors’ Centre, the testimonials speak warmly of her […]
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Published by Peripeteia Press There are times when a book lands on your desk and it’s akin to manna from heaven. For those of you who have read my Editor’s Letter on page 3, you will know that the Hopley household, like thousands of others, is in the grip of exam revision. So I left […]
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Published by Pogo Learning Nick Handel is a former BBC producer and has used this skill to write a fantastic, easy to use resource that uses film to develop creative writing. Today’s youngsters have a highly developed visual knowledge. Brought up on a diet of video films, games and animated learning techniques – something has […]
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Published by Hachette Mind Games is set in a future where almost everything is virtual. Everyone loves the way life is organised, except for a group of people – the refusers. Refusers don’t go into these virtual worlds because they don’t like it or don’t want to. And among these refusers is a girl called […]
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As I take my seat at the Bristol Old Vic, I wonder how a book that is essentially a memoire of sexual encounters can be put on stage and deliver a great story. This play, in fact, is based on John Cleland’s book Memoirs of a Woman, which tells the infamous life of Francis Hill, […]
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Jonathan Harvey’s play Beautiful Thing is doing the rounds again – marking its 20th anniversary. It’s a great story that deserves a revival, and this one, with the confident and accomplished Charlie Brooks (from EastEnders) brought a great energy to the production. Set in an inner city London council estate, Harvey’s sparkily-written script tells the […]