Ink Pellet

Director’s notes

inkpellet — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:16:20 +0000

One of the interesting things about Romeo and Juliet is that you’re dealing with a play that everyone feels they know. The most famous example of that is the line ‘Wherefore art thou, Romeo?’ which most people think means ‘Where are you?’ but of course it means ‘Why are you?’ What Juliet is saying is, why do you have to be called Romeo? Why did you have to be a Montague?
It’s a play that is structured around opposites, contradictions, contrasts and antitheses at every level: it starts off with the word ‘two’; you have Montague versus Capulet; you have Romeo and Juliet; Romeo has two father figures – Montague and Friar Lawrence; Juliet has two mother figures – Nurse and Lady Capulet.
There are scenes which pair with each other, for example there are two scenes where Nurse comes in with news – the first time is really good news where Juliet is going to get married, then it’s the really bad news that Tybalt is dead.
The plot throughout the play is actually really flimsy. I got drawn to the idea that if Romeo turned up ten minutes late it would have all been fine and Juliet would have been awake. It’s not like Macbeth where he kills the king and pays the consequences of that. From about Act II you’re fairly clear that Macbeth is screwed and on his way down. Romeo and Juliet is not like that – even down to the fact when the Montague boys go to the party where Romeo meets Juliet, it’s to make a comparison – to go and look at other girls, to ‘weigh in the scales of your eyes’. They only go because Capulet has happened to give the list of invites to someone who cannot read!
Culturally, we see the play through the Prologue that it’s about fate and they’re screwed from the start but if you really look at the play it’s as interested in coincidence. Shakespeare always looked at both sides of the coin – which is the amazing thing about him.
One of the things we’re playing with is to highlight the moments where the action could have gone differently. So what would have happened if Capulet had given the invitations to the Nurse? She would just leave the stage. Then we go back and play the scene again and hand the invitations to Peter, who cannot read. Hopefully we’re showing how fragile it is, and that happens over and over again in the play. The coincidences are interesting – and you see the key moments in everybody’s lives are resting on a whole load of coincidences.
The cast has completely extended this idea. For example, the scene where Juliet has taken the potion and everyone thinks she is dead is a difficult, weird scene to pull off. One of the actors said that it was a weird scene, that the writing is weird – really formal and strange. We discussed this and others said they didn’t feel like they were playing the same characters, it was almost as if they were seeing it from her point of view. So we thought maybe we could do it from her point of view so this scene is really dreamy, and really strange and in slow motion. And that led to a whole host of inventions! It’s a good example of where a problem opened up a road to a potential staging.

Romeo and Juliet is a co-production between Headlong Theatre, Nuffield Theatre, Southampton and Nottingham Playhouse in association with Hull Truck Theatre. Romeo and Juliet is on tour until April 7. For tour details and education pack visit www.headlongtheatre.co.uk

Stellar cast

inkpellet — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:15:39 +0000

Left: Louise’s cast of Kriss Akabusi

The London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics are inspiring artists, musicians and performers to create some powerful artworks. The creative festivities have taken a while to catch on but the works are set to contribute to the all-important legacy of the Games.
One woman making her own contribution to this pool of art and raising money along the way is sculptor Louise Giblin who has created striking works of five British sporting heroes for an exhibition called Body Casting Olympians. The models were gymnast Beth Tweddle MBE, hurdler Kriss Akabusi MBE, Dame Kelly Holmes, Sally Gunnell OBE and visually-impaired Paralympian swimmer Darren Leach.
They modelled for Louise last year and the resulting Olympian Series sculptures, sketches, photographs and bronze cast designs will be launched in May 2012 at the Mall Galleries’ East Gallery, two days after the Olympic torch relay begins.
The pieces look like Roman body armour – strong, eye-catching and oddly inspiring – highlighting the real finesse and power of the body. The back of the sculptures shows the torsos stripped and stylised while the fronts are detailed reliefs of the Union Flag with the site of the greatest achievement chosen by the five subjects.
Using a special technique developed for body casting subjects and applying designs to the surface of the resulting clay torso, Louise creates a unique sculpture. Each may be reproduced up to 12 times in cold cast metals or bronze, for the limited edition series.
Louise, an associate of the Royal British Society of Sculptors (ARBS), explains: ‘We wear achievements and things we value as armour to avoid personal scrutiny, hence my sculptures often appear to be wearing armour. I’m impressed by people who commit to goals with determination as this makes them powerful; these Olympians are awe-inspiring both physically and mentally. London 2012 is an opportunity for me to work with extraordinary people, celebrate British success and to help raise money for a great cause.’
Born in Woking in 1963, Louise studied 3D Design then BA Sculpture at Brighton Polytechnic under tutelage of Antony Gormley (sculptor of ‘Angel of the North’) and Peter Randall-Page, and MA History and Theory of Modern Art at Chelsea College of Art. She now lives and works on the Kent/East Sussex border.
Her work is produced using plaster impregnated body and head casts from which she creates a clay positive. This is carved for 5-8 weeks prior to firing in a kiln. The work is primed and then moulded using silicone, resin and fibre glass. This mould is used to make a wax copy for bronze casting or a cold cast metal copy using powdered precious metals and resin.
It was no easy task for her models. Kriss Akabusi, who will be speaking at the launch in May, is going to have his image cast in bronze. He found his experience involved a little more sacrifice. He said: ‘Having my chest shaved as smooth as a baby’s bottom and being stuck in a cast for an hour or so, are a small price to pay to have my body image preserved for time and eternity – so I’m very excited to see the finished article.’
The exhibition is launched on May 22 and will raise funds for the brain injury charity, Headfirst, of which singer Cheryl Baker is a patron.
Beth Tweddle plans to sell her torso to raise further money for Headfirst. She says: “It was an amazing experience with some funny memories, these and photos of the finished piece will be treasured forever. I like the fact that my achievements can make a real contribution towards this worthwhile charity.’
Louise is now recruiting models for her Living Legend Series 2014. She commenced December 2011 by head casting former Cabinet Minister and broadcaster Michael Portillo. In the spring she will be casting friend, entertainer and Headfirst patron, Cheryl Baker who worked with Kriss Akabusi on TV’s ‘Record Breakers’.
Body casting Olympians will show at Mall Galleries, London May 21-26 and the Olympian Series, Saffron Fine Art, Battle from May 21 until June 2. For more details about Louise’s work, please visit www.louisegiblin.co.uk.

Screen writer’s dream

inkpellet — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:14:36 +0000

If Charles Dickens were alive today, there is no doubt he would be writing for television. This was the over-riding theory on the table at the Adapting Dickens: A Television History event at the British Film Institute in London last month.
The day, part of the BFI’s Dickens on Screen season, looked at visual depictions of the writers’ novels through talks, panel discussions and film. It was a day for ‘Dickensians’, directors and die-hard fans – rewarding, inspiring and invigorating.
First up was the articulate and passionate dramatist Michael Eaton, who gave us a whistle-stop history of film and television adaptations. It came as no surprise to learn that Dickens’s novels were adapted into plays during the writer’s lifetime or that once moving images were possible his works – melodramatic and moving as they are – would become ripe subjects for the earliest experiments in film.
One of the unintended highlights of Eaton’s talk was when he read the first two paragraphs of Bleak House, to illustrate that however good the film or television actor’s work, he or she will never be able to recreate the wonder
and beauty of the words.
But it was his history of the series – the so-called ‘tea-time’ adaptations as well as the Schools’ Programme – that was so interesting. Filmed on a shoe-string, mostly inside, these programmes became the introduction to Dickens for a generation of youngsters. The long runs (for example, 30 minute episodes over 13 weeks) gave time for the stories and characters to be explored – unlike the short, sharp adaptations we have recently.
The second session of the day opened with a showing of The Late Show programme Who Framed Charles Dickens first broadcast in 1994.
A discussion was chaired by Mark Lawson from the BBC, with panellists Diarmuid Lawrence (who directed the recent The Mystery of Edwin Drood), actor Sir Tom Courtenay who played William Dorrit in the BBC version of Little Dorrit, Sara Phelps (who adapted Oliver Twist and Great Expectations for the BBC) and Kate Harwood, BBC controller of Series and Serials Drama Production. The panel explored the episodic nature of Dickens’s writing and how his talent for description, unwittingly provides actors down the ages with detailed character notes. They highlighted the challenges too of not making versions of earlier adaptations. Phelps confided that she had to avoid watching David Lean’s
Great Expectations so that it would not colour her own version shown on the BBC at Christmas.
The day ended with a discussion on the tea–time dramas with script editor and producer Betty Willingdale, writer Terrance Dicks and the actor Clive Swift, who starred in the Pickwick Papers and Dombey & Son back in the 1960s. This was a whimsical look back at the old days and how the tea–time Dickens ticked the Reithian values box to Educate, Inform and Entertain, although it was observed that the adaptations were not always cosy and did not shy away from the harder themes. Sikes’s murder of Nancy in both the 1960s and 1980s versions were particularly gruesome and even prompted questions in the house from shocked MPs.
There was strong consensus in the room for film-makers to produce longer versions so that the minor characters could be explored – one of the particular strengths of Dickens’s works. But, as it all comes down to cost, we may never see the like again.
So while we may argue over the qualities of this or that production, ultimately we must heed Michael Eaton’s wise words: ‘Don’t take television adaptations by themselves – go back to the book.’
The Dickens on Screen season runs until March 22 with showings of most of the television and film works of the writer’s books. There is a small exhibition of vintage posters, costume designs and photographs on show at the BFI. For further details visit www.bfi.org.uk.

The art of achievement

inkpellet — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:14:14 +0000

One of the questions schools ask me most is ‘how can we make Arts Award fit with what we’re already doing?’ Happily, there are lots of examples to draw on. Arts Award’s flexible framework means schools run it within the curriculum, through enrichment, extra-curricular projects and targeted intervention programmes.
I’ve seen Arts Award’s popularity grow and grow in schools, despite recent changes in the arts education landscape. Of the 3,400 organisations delivering Arts Award to young people, over a third are schools, post-16 colleges and pupil referral units. In recognition of Arts Award’s growing impact, it is now part of the criteria for schools and other organisations to achieve Artsmark status: www.artsaward.org.uk/artsmark.
I believe there are three main concepts at the heart of Arts Award’s appeal.
Firstly, it’s not just Arts Award’s status as a national qualification that appeals to schools (Bronze, Silver and Gold are accredited at levels 1, 2 and 3 on the Qualifications and Credit Framework and Gold carries 35 UCAS points); it’s also the opportunity it gives students to develop their knowledge and skills without the pressure of a formal exam.
Indeed, many schools who deliver Arts Award find that students’ sense of ownership of their projects inspires more independent learning. Michael Humphrey, Head of Music at Hendon School in London, described it as ‘a privilege to watch pupils take the initiative and immerse themselves in
their own creative projects’.
Arts Award can also provide a structure for cross-curricular and enrichment projects. I’ve recently talked to schools who are building Media, ICT and Humanities into their Arts Award programmes, while the Shakespeare Challenge – an approach to the Bronze Award developed in partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company – is used for creative exploration of Shakespeare’s language in English and Drama.
As well as the proven benefits for students, teachers tell me they also value what Arts Award brings to their own practice. Liane Shaw, Arts Award adviser at Havant Academy in Hampshire, feels that running the award keeps her passionate about her subject. She says: ‘Seeing what the students can achieve inspires you to be creative yourself.’ The creative approach to teaching and learning that Arts Award encourages, also appeals to those who may not think of themselves as artistic. I was particularly inspired by a student at The Trafalgar School at Downton in Wiltshire, who used the pattern of his tennis ball hitting a canvas to create a piece of abstract art.
With 2012 kicking off with some exciting developments, now is a great time to get started with Arts Award. In April, Trinity College London, which manages Arts Award in association with Arts Council England, will launch two new levels for students in Key Stage 2 and above, Arts Award Discover and Arts Award Explore. And during the Olympic year, young people will be able to take part in special Arts Award programmes, including one created for the World Shakespeare Festival.

Further reading

To find out more about the new Arts Award levels visit www.artsaward.org.uk/7plus.
For details of how you can benefit from the World Shakespeare Festival, www.artsaward.org.uk/wsf.
About the Olympics: www.artsaward.org.uk/2012w
And if you’d just like to get going, visit www.artsaward.org.uk/schools
or call Jodie on 020 7820 6177 to discuss how it could work for you.

Noticeboard: February 2012

inkpellet — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:13:55 +0000

Looking ahead to summer, the Cape Town Opera will be touring its acclaimed version of the Gershwin classic Porgy and Bess. Relocated to Soweto, the company’s gifted singers will bring such classics as Summertime, It Ain’t Necessarily So and I Loves You Porgy to a new generation. Written in 1935, the love story of Porgy and Bess is modernised as the pair seek happiness amid the poverty and hardship in the ravaged Cape Town township. The company also makes its debut European performances of the Mandela Trilogy at Wales Millennium Centre, a musical tribute to the life of the former South African leader. Theatres welcoming the Cape Town Opera are Birmingham, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Canterbury and Southampton and the London Coliseum. Visit their websites for more details.

The academy of Children’s Writers is organising it’s 27th annual Write A Story for Children competition. This is now recognised as one of the most prestigious for unpublished writers. The top prize is £2,000. Entries may be no longer than 2,000 words. Closing date is March 31st. For further details, check out the website www.childrens-writers.co.uk, and dust down that manuscript!

Ink Pellet reader and Head of English, Neil Bowen, has launched an online literature forum called peripeteia. The aim of the project is to promote literary discussion between students, teachers, academics and writers from
different institutions. The site now has about 200 members, including academics and students from India, the USA, Algeria and Scotland. Every month Neil, who teaches at Wells Cathedral School, runs online seminars run by distinguished academics. These include Frankenstein, convened by Dr Mariadele Boccardi of UWE. As new members join, the seminar programme is expanding. The current programme for this academic year can be found at peripeteia.webs.com. Brilliant idea!

For serious art lovers (or those with great imaginations) the Eykyn Maclean in London is hosting a collection of Cy Twombly works from the Sonnabend Collection(www.eykynmaclean.com). I love the Bacchus pieces in Tate Modern. Just don’t get this era of his work at all. Sorry.

Moving Movies

inkpellet — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:13:37 +0000

It seems that cinema is going through some kind of resurgence. Classics are being dusted down and re-filmed, and thanks to the wondrous nature of new technology theatre can even be streamed to your local movie house. I went to see The Kitchen by Arnold Wesker, part of the NT Live programme. It was an odd but exhilarating experience.
I don’t know about you but I still get a buzz of excitement before curtain up – even now when it’s part of my job. The same was true as I sat in Ashford’s Cineworld last autumn waiting with anticipation among a mixed audience. The play and the players were brilliant – but I was disappointed to discover that the camera was not static, focussed on the stage but followed the actors, film-style.
Still, if you can get over this minor irritation, the programme gives everybody the chance to see brilliant work locally. I’m not sure it’s any cheaper than a theatre ticket these days (I paid £12.50 for my seat at Cineworld) but it’s a great experience, nevertheless. I was bugged by a surprising concern – do you clap at the end? Answers on a postcard please!
Coming up in the season is Lenny Henry in The Comedy of Errors in March.This is the second Shakespeare the popular comedian has tackled, with much acclaim, and the play is a real delight. On March 29, it is the turn of She Stoops To Conquer, starring among others, former Coronation Street’s favourite Katherine Kelly.
In mainstream theatre there is plenty to watch out for. Having seen the trailers on the telly box, The Woman in Black looks like it will be a bit of thriller. Daniel Radcliffe seems to be effortlessly making the transition from child star to adult actor and is one to watch as he takes on the role of Arthur Kipps in Susan Hill’s perennial, adapted for the screen by Jane Goldman. Watch out for the interesting debate on whether the film stays true to the stage version!
War Horse has been the subject of this debate – as we all know, Michael Morpurgo’s wonderful tale has been given the full Steven Spielberg treatment. But isn’t it good to have a proper, classic, sweeping weepie in the cinemas, knowing full well that the novel is naturally told in a more prosaic way? I’ll leave you to ponder that one.
Other releases planned this year are Streetdance 2, ready for the summer hols, a new version of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law in a Tom Stoppard adaptation due out in September plus Ang Lee’s adaptation of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi is going to be filmed in 3D. That’s one to look forward to at Christmas. And don’t forget to book Richard II (dir Rupert Goold) and Great Expectations (dir Mike Newell) coming up soon.

Keith Gaines Govey to the Rescue

inkpellet — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:13:17 +0000

Busy, busy, busy! Michael Gove, Education Secretary, has spent January telling us his New Years’ resolutions. And what a long list it is! First off, Govey announced he would scrap rules that shield incompetent staff and allow them to be dismissed within just one term. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Gove said he wanted parents to go into classrooms to assess how well children are being taught. Nothing to fear there, of course. He could be really radical and allow teachers to carry our reciprocal observational visits to pupil’s homes to judge how well parents are performing, grade them accordingly, and publish the scores in
the school newsletter.
Govey wants to introduce a yearly assessment, with swift dismissal for failing teachers. ‘The whole procedure should now be telescoped into just a term – eight to nine weeks.’ I have to say I agree with him – up to a point. Govey asked, ‘Why is it that we tolerate underperforming teachers in the classroom?’ The answer is that it is extremely difficult and time-consuming to take action against a failing teacher. One recent case, of a local teacher who the head and governors considered was not able to do the job, showed clearly the difficulties of dismissal. Following three thick files of policies, procedures and guidance, and with the local authority’s human resources department giving constant advice and checking every action, the process, from the first warning, took over two and a half years, during most of which time the teacher was on periodic sick leave. The matter ended with the teacher’s resignation, so this case was never recorded as a teacher dismissal. It was, according to those involved, a long and stressful experience for all concerned. But the exhaustive procedures involving training, monitoring and assessment have been developed over the years to support teachers who, with additional training and support, could be more successful and also to protect teachers who are unfairly accused. Make no mistake – the number of successful cases where a teacher has sued for unfair or constructive dismissal shows all too clearly that not every headteacher is a glowing exemplar of fairness, justice and consideration. I fear Govey’s fast-track sackings will, at best, create masses of work for the teaching unions and their lawyers.
Two days later, Govey announced that around 4,500 vocational courses would no longer count as GCSE equivalents in school league tables. For example, an NVQ in hairdressing, currently worth the equivalent of five GCSEs at the highest level, would no longer count for anything in league-table scores. It seems clear that Govey wants a much more academic curriculum for all. He has said publicly that he wants all schools to be good and who could argue with that? The problem is that in OFSTED-speak and DES-speak, ‘good’ means ‘higher than average’. When Govey appeared before the Parliamentary Education Committee on January 31, to answer questions sent in via twitter, the chairman put this very point to Govey and asked how all schools being ‘good’ (higher than average) was mathematically possible? Govey relied, ‘It’s average for… um… by getting better all the time.’ The chairman asked if Govey was better at literacy than numeracy.
Anyway – at our small rural primary school, we school governors have to find a new headteacher. We’ve just started the process and last Monday we had a meeting to try to thrash out what particular qualities and talents we were looking for. We were, of course, looking for someone who would make the school ‘good’ i.e. ‘better than average’ for the benefit of the pupils and also to keep OFSTED and Govey off our backs. We had a productive discussion, helped by our local authority link adviser and we ended up with a list of abilities and characteristics which we felt would be desirable in a successful candidate. The only problem was, our vision of the headteacher we were looking for sounded like a combination of Superman, Mother Theresa, David Attenborough and Richard Branson. So if any readers reckon they fit this profile, and fancy a primary headship in September, drop me a line.
Anyone can apply because you no longer need the national training qualification for a headship. You probably didn’t notice among all the end-of-term chaos, and amongst all his other pronouncements, but, just before Christmas, Govey quietly abolished the requirement that any candidate for a Headteacher post had to have successfully completed this training. I’m not even sure you need to be a qualified teacher any more to apply for a headship. I can’t keep up with all of Govey’s rulings, but I’m sure he said somewhere that ex-military personnel would make excellent teachers. My favourite twitter question for Govey (which I don’t think was put to him) was, ‘What makes you so certain that soldiers who are trained to kill and obey orders without question will make good teachers?’ I’m sure he knows best so any readers who are ex-SAS, ex-SBS or former paras are welcome to apply. Relevant experience will be essential, preferably in Afghanistan
or Iraq.

Book review: Street of Tall People

inkpellet — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:12:59 +0000

Street of Tall People by Alan Gibbons
Published by Five Leaves Publishing

This edition of Alan Gibbons’ 1995 book is timely. A new generation of potential readers is now ready to be introduced to Gibbons’ hard-hitting, realistic story-telling. The relatively compact tale, told in brisk but effective prose and divided into short-ish chapters, should appeal to KS3.
It is 1936 and the scene is set in London’s East End. Two 12-year-olds, Jimmy Priest and Benny Silver, meet in the boxing ring; they would like to become friends. Their story takes place in the lead up to the Battle of Cable Street when Oswald Mosley threatened to parade his fascist supporters through this area of London, home to many families, including the eponymous ‘Tall People’, the Jews.
These are Benny’s people. Jimmy is a Gentile a yok, a non- Jew. Struggling to become friends, the boys become caught in the crossfire of opposing ideologies. Their friendship is constantly tested by the dangerous times in which they live. Through a supporting cast of characters, Gibbons offers other points of view: Yaro, Benny’s slightly older friend, thinks all Gentiles are Jew-baiters and Eddie Searle, who’s dating Jimmy’s widowed mum, is a paid-up Blackshirt.
However The Street of Tall People is no mere history lesson. Jimmy and Benny are well-rounded characters your students will relate to. Jimmy’s efforts to come to terms with his father’s death, his mother’s perceived ‘infidelity’ and his own low self-esteem are for all time. Recognisable too are grammar-school scholar Benny’s boyhood dreams for a future far away from the limited horizons of the East End.
The book ends with a toast – lechayim, to life. Read it, re-read it. It’s worth it!

Pass it on: February 2012

inkpellet — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:12:39 +0000

We hear from former Ink Pelletian Laura Woodland who is in the West Country working on Somerfest, a folk festival for young people by young people. The event runs from April 2 and ends with an all-day shindig on April 7th. There are workshops and events to excite and inspire all week. At the helm is artistic director Will Lang, who has brought together dancers, singers and music. There will also be a silent ceidlh and open mic session. Somerfest takes place at Halsbury Manor. Seek more details by following the links at www.halsburymanor.co.uk.

The Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester, is featuring an exhibition of exceptionally small things with its Giants of the Infinitesimal: An Interactive Experience of the Nano-World. This interactive exhibition presents cutting-edge nanoscience research. Have a go on large-scale models to find out how scientists create completely new atomic structures and learn about amazing nanomachines. The exhibition is a unique collaboration between artists and scientists and runs to March 31. Find more details at www.mosi.org.uk.

History students will know that Joan of Arc was born 600 years ago, so watch out for connections in our press, art galleries and theatres. The Rose Bankside, the company will be performing George Bernard Shaw’s Saint
Joan later this year – we’ll let you know when!

The Cultural Olympiad brings with it great opportunities to explore the arts in all its forms while learning about sport, London, the universe and… errr… everything. The BBC is leading the way with programmes on TV and radio, backed up with more information online than you ever thought possible. One to watch includes a series of films made in conjunction with Film Four. The Swimmer is a poetic journey through the waterways and coastline of the British Isles, following a lone swimmer through lakes, rivers and coves. Watch out too, for Music Nation, involving the National Orchestra of Wales which will be working with young singers performing a new commission for Music Nation by composer Karl Jenkins.

Book review: Wolf Blood

inkpellet — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:12:19 +0000

Wolf Blood by N M Browne
Published by Bloomsbury

Trista, a tribal warrior woman with the gift of future sight, has been taken as a slave after a battle by a rival tribe. While escaping from her captors, she runs into Morcant, a half-Brit, half-Roman soldier with his own special skill; he can turn into a wolf. Trista can see his wolf spirit and he slowly begins to accept his fate as a shape shifter with her help and begins to rebel against his former Roman comrades.
Trista, meanwhile, has a quest of her own. She has been tasked, against her will, to deliver a message to the Chief of the British tribes that could turn the tide against the invading Romans and shape the future of Britain…
This is a classic love triangle tale with a twist. The narrative alternates between Trista and Morcant, with the added interest of Morcant’s version providing the perspective of a wolf. Trista is a believable character, with all the nuances and character traits expected of a tribal warrior plus the appropriate language! Morcant is the lesser character in this story, but his contribution to the flow of the plot, and his interventions at significant points in the story are well thought out. The sub-plot of his struggles with his shape-shifter identity and his relationship conflicts between Trista and the she-wolf are intriguing.
Overall, this is a believable story, even though there are fantasy elements. The author has done her research into Celtic Britain, tribal and Roman battle tactics, and the language of the time. The book is aimed at older teens due to the complex interweaving of the plot dynamics, the graphic descriptions of battle, and the gritty dialogue! All in all, a good read!