this month's
Ink Pellet contains
Top Gs Like Me
Top Gs Like Me is a new play by Samson Hawkins which premieres at Royal and Derngate, Northampton in February 2026. Susan Elkin chats to Anna Simpson about the workshops and CPD sessions they are coordinating with the production. “We are very proud of Samson. He’s a local playwright who has been working dramaturgically with […]
Global Playwright
BIG INTERVIEW Global Playwright Oladipo “Dipo” Agboluaje, 57, is a British/Nigerian playwright best known for Early Morning (2003) and lya-lle (The First Wife) which won the Alfred Fargon Award in 2009. Susan Elkin talked to him. Dipo was born in Hackney, but his family returned to Nigeria when he was nine. “So I did all […]
ROYAL COURT YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS AWARD
The 2026 Young Playwrights Award is now officially nation-wide! Do you have an idea or a story to tell? Can you imagine it performed live, by actors on a stage? It’s time to start your playwriting journey. The Young Playwrights Award is a free, open-access competition for any teenager in the UK interested in writing a play, […]
VOICED: THE FESTIVAL FOR ENDANGERED LANGUAGES
With half of the world’s languages threatened to fall silent by the end of the century comes the first ever UK festival Voiced: The Festival for Endangered Languages, celebrating the power of language and art by highlighting endangered global and local languages through a creative festival. Throughout October, the Barbican, London will be filled with an explosion of voices and […]
NATIONAL THEATRE EXPANDS SCHOOLS PROGRAMME
The National Theatre has announced its autumn programme for schools across the UK, deepening its work with young people to support its continued ambition to reach every child in the UK before they leave school. Over 90% of state secondary schools are already signed up to access the National Theatre Collection to stream world-leading theatre directly […]
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 […]
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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Nam June Paik was a visionary artist who is at last receiving the acclaim he deserves as reviewers JOANNE BALDWIN and ALISS LANGRIDGE found out...
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A new edition of Huckleberry Finn is about to hit the shops with the ‘bad words’ left out. But we all know that great literature reflects the period in which it was written and that includes language. Should editors and publishers keep their hands off? LESLEY FINLAY asked Ink Pellet readers what they think…
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Is there nothing Mr David Walliams cannot do? Here ALISS LANGRIDGE reviews his cracking novel Billionaire Boy...
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Following in the footsteps of a famous parent is difficult enough but when your dad is Sir Peter Hall, that’s a different challenge altogether. But Edward Hall is making his name with his innovative approach to Shakespeare productions as LESLEY FINLAY found out...
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Welcome back! I hope you had a great summer and that the start of the new school year has not been too stressful...
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Film is a serious art form with plenty to offer students of all subjects.The London Film Museum is tapping into a need for more information as LESLEY FINLAY found out...
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Philip Larkin has been somewhat typecast by the poem about your mum and dad. But there are many reasons to dig deeper and share his work as SIMON FINLAY argues....
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We are now well and truly in the Age of Austerity and that means times are a-changing for our libraries, which could face cuts of 30 per cent or more...
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PETER KING teaches English at Wisbech Grammar School, and before the summer holiday, reviewed AQA’s publications about its new English specification. Here, he gives his verdict on the books…
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