this month's
Ink Pellet contains
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.
ROH Apprenticeships
Offering another route into the industry, apprenticeships are flourishing and Susan Elkin examined the opportunities offered by the Royal Opera House.
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.
NDT Broadgate
So just how do you support an industry which is on its knees – economically, theatrically and emotionally – after a pandemic which has almost felled it? Step forward New Diorama Theatre, its artistic and executive director David Byrne, and – most importantly – British Land, a real estate investment company with British holdings worth £10.3 billion. Susan Elkin investigates.
EXHIBITION: Brutal Beauty
Making use of alternative mediums, Jean Dubuffet’s career spanned many genres and the latest retrospective at the Barbican caught Graham Hooper’s eye.
ENO Outreach
Determined to reach out to a wider, younger audience, the ENO is actively engaging with schools and supporting those recovering from illness. Susan Elkin discovered more.
Teaching Shakespeare
Don’t ignore the bard, implores Susan Elkin.
Book Review: The Lamplighters
By Emma Stonex Published by Pan Macmillan In 1900 three lighthouse keepers disappeared from a lighthouse in the Outer Hebrides. And that mystery is the inspiration for Emma Stonex’s oddly compelling and highly original novel set in 1972 and later. Three men, Arthur Black, principal keeper, William “Bill” Walker, assistant keeper, and the much younger […]
THEATRE REVIEW: Animal Farm – National Youth Theatre Rep Company
Very clearly reimagined as muscular, vibrant, ensemble-based physical theatre, supported by John Elliott‘s relentless, menacing soundtrack, this riveting take on Animal Farm opens with a mock Pathé News item. It’s immaculately voiced by Will Stewart, who also does a simpering, comfort-loving pragmatic Mollie, and introduces each character. Then we’re into the timeless story about the […]
Vivid Direction
Matthew Parker is a theatre director. His recent Henry V in the Roman Amphitheatre for Maltings Theatre, St Albans wowed Susan Elkin, herself a Henry V veteran, so she met him to find out more. I fell in love with theatre when I was four years old – and it was for life”, Matthew tells me, […]
Library
Ink Pellet’s book review section covers an eclectic selection of new fiction, teachers’ guides, audio books and classics.
Many of our reviews are written by teachers, so we have an expert eye on how texts will work in the classroom. We hope to create a useful archive of reviews so that you can use this as a reference. If you would like to join our panel of reviewers, please join in or email the editor john@inkpellet.co.uk. We hope the section inspires you to share new fiction with your pupils or to revisit old favourites yourself
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Funny, tender and painfully awkward, Romantics Anonymous is a delicious love story about breaking the mould and finding the courage to be happy. Emma Rice discusses the production After the disappointmentof the Romantics Anonymous tour being cancelled how does it feel to share the work again, in an albeit slightly different way than expected? It’s hard to […]
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As schools return for the autumn term, Susan Elkin looks at how ‘lockdown learning’ has adapted and whether new methods learnt can be incorporated into teaching practices. 2020 has become the year in which innovation and technology has driven learning. There has been criticism of teachers who have allegedly sat at home and done little. […]
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Susan Elkin took a virtual tour around the wide array of courses on offer at the Midlands Academy of Dance and Drama, Nottingham. In 1967 Frances Clayton founded the Midlands Academy of Dance & Drama (known affectionately as ‘MADD’) to provide dance classes for children and young people in Nottingham. She is still its principal. […]
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Braving the elements, but enjoying the lack of crowds, Graham Hooper guides through a couple of nature-inspired exhibitions
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Talking Heads – BBC iPlayer Review by Susan ElkinIt was an inspiration to recreate during lockdown the series of twelve monologues which Alan Bennett wrote for TV in 1998. The original series – and the printed text – will be very familiar to many secondary English and Drama teachers as a way of teaching what monologues...
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Susan Elkin makes a strong case for preserving and integrating arts opportunities in schools.
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Actress, playwright and author of a new young adult novel, Run, Rebel, Manjeet Mann who founded Run the World, a non-profit making organisation which works with women and girls from marginalised backgrounds and helps to empower them through sport and storytelling. Susan Elkin chats to her.
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Guiding you through the upcoming year of exhibition highlights, Graham Hooper suggests making time for these exciting shows. This is the time to look back on what a good year 2019 was for art, and the best time for planning ahead to 2020; whether you intend to take a class of students on a study […]
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Susan Elkin is encouraged by the breadth of stage schools, but suggests eyes need to be wide open. Stage schools are big business. They are also a bit of a minefield. How do you balance ensuring that children get performing arts opportunities against the decline of those same opportunities in mainstream schools and everyone’s need […]
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Adam Penford, Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse, has a passion for storytelling. As he prepares to bring a much-loved story about friendship and doing the right thing to the stage, he shows our imaginations ensure there are no barriers to bringing great tales to life. For the 1.5 million-plus people who have bought the book […]