this month's
Ink Pellet contains
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 […]
Book Review – Activist
by Louisa Reid Published by Guppy Books Cassandra, narrator of this powerful verse novel, is a reluctant sixth former in a prestigious mixed school, formerly all boys, where toxic culture simmers. Driven by her own experience, and by nature a feisty “shouter” she campaigns forcibly for acknowledgement that some of the boys at school treat […]
Book Review – A Poetry Pedagogy for Teachers: Reorienting Classroom Literacy Practice
by Maya Pindyck and Ruth Vinz, with Diana Liu and Ashlynn Wittchow The thrust of this detailed, well-researched, quite academic book about the poetry in classrooms is that we shouldn’t teach students to search for meaning so that “the poem becomes a specimen for examination under the microscope of interpretative practices”. Instead we should experience […]
Theatre Reviews
Our theatre reviews aim to bring you the latest and best performances of plays, dance and music. Ink Pellet celebrates the country’s vibrant regional theatres – from performances of the classics and set texts, to new plays that will inspire and support you.
Once again, we have a merry band of discerning teachers who visit plays in their town (sometimes earning themselves a free programme and interval drink)to review for the magazine.
We’ll also review something you might like – just for sheer pleasure! If you would like to join our panel of reviewers, please join in or email the editor john@inkpellet.co.uk.
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Less well known in schools maybe than Educating Rita which visits the same territory, Willy Russell’s immaculately, tenderly observed portrait of a frustrated (in every sense) 1970s Liverpool housewife is as moving as it is hilarious. And the observation of women’s experience is so acutely observed that it’s hard to believe that this is the work of […]
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Having dropped in on rehearsals prior to the tour (IP114, Feb/March), I was intrigued to see the production in full and see how the show had evolved from its Regents Park open-air run last year. Although the stage production perhaps lacked the ‘jungle’ feel offered by the open-air surroundings, this touring production more than made […]
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Can we love two people equally? Is a gay relationship – which won’t generally populate the world – natural or acceptable? This frisky, oddly old fashioned show – which wears its seriousness lightly – did very well at the Edinburgh Fringe last year and it’s easy to see why. A five hander, it wittily explores […]
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Rooted in the concept of performance poetry Boys Don’t presents three gut-wrenching monologues exploring the idea that boys and men really do need to be able to express their feelings – by crying, if necessary. As one of them asserts firmly “Sometimes boys cry”. Each man – yes, it’s an all male cast and justifiably […]
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Jamie Lloyd’s production of Roddy Doyle’s smash hit novel-cum-movie hits the road in its first UK tour, following a couple of years at London’s Palace Theatre. Re-directed for the road by Caroline J Ranger, it’s a pretty disappointing evening overall. For the uninitiated, the loose plot follows Dublin music obsessive Jimmy Rabbitte (Andrew Linnie) as […]
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It’s an “issues play” about the experiences of young women across a number of cultures and situations. The intention is to get the audience talking, thinking – and perhaps seeking, or finding ways to help. Everyone gets a list of charities such as Amnesty International and LBTH Violence against Women and Girls at the end. […]
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This show, which is touring to schools, has developed from the RSC’s recent main house production of The Tempest. An abridged 90 minute version, it works perfectly. I found it clear, immersive and entertaining as did the Year 4 and Year 6 children I saw it with. Darren Raymond as a charismatic and authoritative Prospero […]
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We’re in a primary school head teacher’s office and Anna Reid’s set captures the atmosphere and detail beautifully. The play has a worthy stab at dealing with the dynamics, tension and issues too. Tests dominate the thinking because without certain results the school won’t get the all-vital pupil premium money to fund things such as […]
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Owing to the popularity of the 2008 film, there are no real surprises with the stage version of Mamma Mia; you go expecting – and getting – a thoroughly entertaining night out. Now in its 18th year, the ABBA numbers could almost have been written with this musical in mind, so seamlessly do they weave […]
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This comedy of social class and socialism, based on HG Wells novel Kipps, first saw the light of day in 1963, written by Beverley Cross and David Heneker for Tommy Steele who played Arthur Kipps. Now reworked with book refreshed by Julian Fellowes and lots of new Stiles and Drewe songs and lyrics, it’s deliciously […]