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  1. Fully Rounded

    Fully Rounded  

    Forty years since its inception, Susan Elkin pays a visit to the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London to find out how this successful establishment is evolving. It’s always a pleasure to visit Sylvia Young Theatre School. Its astonishingly attractive building is a light, bright, lofty former church just off Edgware Road. Complete with stained […]

  2. Tenacity Wins Through

    Tenacity Wins Through  

    Mark Farrelly is an actor with four solo shows under his belt. He tours them continually, sometimes concurrently. Susan Elkin talks to him about his life and career to date. There is a dark depth in Mark Farrelly’s work which has struck me each of the three times I’ve seen him on stage. And it’s […]

  3. Not to be missed

    Not to be missed  

    A dozen not-to-be missed exhibitions around the country this coming year selected by Graham Hooper. As is traditional now for me in Ink Pellet, wishing you new year’s greetings for 2022, it gives me great pleasure to bring you the best of the year ahead in art. It’s another bumper year, back to the good […]

  4. Pause for thought… Diversity = Inclusivity

    Pause for thought… Diversity = Inclusivity  

    Susan Elkin makes a case that cultural diversity should not be at the expense of inclusivity. I live in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is, I learned recently,  London’s most diverse borough. And that is one of the many things I love about it. When, five years ago, I moved back to my native borough […]

  5. The Island of Missing Trees 

    The Island of Missing Trees   

    by Elif Shafak Published by Viking/Penguin We’re in Cyprus – or at least thinking back to how it has been there – from the point of view of a teenager in a London school in the late 2010s. Her parents had married across the Greek/Turkish divide which led to their arrival in England. Ada’s mother […]

  6. Measure for Measure – Sam Wannamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe

    Measure for Measure – Sam Wannamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe  

    Usually listed rather uneasily as a comedy, Measure for Measure is actually a pretty serious play although it descends close to farce in Acts 4 and 5, which is why it’s often dubbed a “problem play”. Blanche McIntyre’s 1970s-set version plays it for laughs. Her cast of eight (there’s some very accomplished doubling) squeeze every […]

  7. Coffee Break: Isabel Adomakoh Young

    Coffee Break: Isabel Adomakoh Young  

    Isabel Adomakoh Young, 28, describes herself as a queer actor, and writer of English and Ghanaian origins with a determination for social change. She played Juliet (Black British Theatre Awards lead actress winner) in Open Air Theatre Regent Park’s Romeo and Juliet in summer 2021. Susan Elkin spoke to her. How did you get into […]

  8. Manchester School of Theatre

    Manchester School of Theatre  

    In this month’s feature on drama schools, Susan Elkin takes a look at the opportunities available at the Manchester School of Theatre.

  9. ROH Apprenticeships

    ROH Apprenticeships  

    Offering another route into the industry, apprenticeships are flourishing and Susan Elkin examined the opportunities offered by the Royal Opera House.

  10. Fourth Monkey expands to Bristol

    Fourth Monkey expands to Bristol  

    Fourth Monkey Actor Training Company is offering a course in Bristol. Susan Elkin talked to founder and artistic director, Steve Green about this new development.