this month's
Ink Pellet contains
The Big Interview – A Voice in Demand
Roderick – Roddy – Williams is an internationally renowned baritone, composer and teacher. He sings opera, oratorio and songs from various eras in concerts. Susan Elkin chatted to him. Roddy Williams is a very busy man. One of the best-known baritones of his generation, he’s on Radio 3 almost daily either because his many recordings […]
24 years Upstairs at the Gatehouse
Following up on our feature about small pub venues from the last issue, Susan Elkin went to discover how Upstairs at the Gatehouse continues to thrive. John and Katy Plews had always wanted to run a theatre of their own. So, once they felt they had sufficient experience they started to look at possibilities all […]
Barney Norris
Like David Storey (1933-2017) whom he admired greatly, Barney Norris, 35, is both a playwright and novelist. Susan Elkin met him. As Barney Norris writes in two genres, I thought a bookshop would be the right place to meet. So we’re sitting congenially over coffee (him) and tea (me) in the basement café at Waterstones […]
Mesmerising Installations
Blown away by the Cornelia Parker exhibition at Tate Britain, Graham Hooper implores you not to miss this event. I’m going to begin by saying that I think Cornelia Parker, whose work is surveyed at Tate Britain in London until October this year, is, in my opinion, the nation’s greatest living artist. That’s a big […]
Young people Speak Up across Manchester
Following a successful pilot phase that began in Autumn 2021, the National Theatre’s Speak Up programme will work with young people in 15 secondary schools in Greater Manchester across the next three years. Speak Up is the NT’s new national programme which sees young people, who have been most affected by the pandemic, working in collaboration with local […]
Pause for thought… Critical Thinking
With years of experience behind her, Susan Elkin discusses the art of a theatre critic. I see an average of four to five shows a week. And I review them – as keen readers of Ink Pellet will be aware – here and elsewhere. They range from one person shows in fringe theatres to big musicals. […]
Book Review – The Crucible / Death of a Salesman / A View from the Bridge
The Crucibleedited by Soyica Diggs Colbert Death of a Salesmanedited by Claire Conceison A View from the Bridgeedited by Julie Vatain-Corfdir Badged as “student texts” these three new Methuen Drama editions of Arthur Miller plays include extensive fore-notes. Each is effectively a study guide and play text combined. They are, however, without all that banal […]
Coffee Break -James Camp
James Camp, 30, is an actor who co-founded Half Cut Theatre in 2020. It’s a touring company working mostly in East Anglia and the southeast. Susan Elkin chatted to him. What first drew you to acting? Well, I grew up in South Cambridgeshire, where my parents still live, and was inspired by my aunty who’s […]
Global Entertainment
Kenny Wax is one of the country’s leading theatre producers with Six and The Show Goes Wrong series under his belt among many other productions. Susan Elkin meets him. Kenny Wax, 54, is a very focused man. Yes, the pandemic has made his life quite difficult, but the long gap means, he tells me, that […]
Going down the Pub
Exploring some of the smaller spaces offered by pub theatres, Susan Elkin suggests you keep them in mind when looking for alternative live theatre school trips. I seem to spend a lot of time in pubs. And no, it isn’t because I’m succumbing to football or alcohol dependency. It’s because there are so many flourishing pub […]
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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We live in interesting times. since the last issue of Ink Pellet we’ve had the sats boycott, the general election, a new coalition love-in government, new leaders, a new department and a new set of education policies. The Ks 2 sats boycott was amazing. that the nUt voted to boycott sats was hardly headline grabbing, […]
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A major new exhibition explores the war years of Pablo Picasso. Lesley Finlay and Joanne Baldwin take a look…
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Life is all about timing and playwright Jonathan Harvey knows a thing or two about it – in terms of comedy, of course.