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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The power and influence of Lewis Carroll’s novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland spreads far and wide. The classic novel continues to inspire film-makers and now an exhibition at Tate Liverpool explores how visual artists have used the work as a starting point. ALISS LANGRIDGE and JO BALDWIN went to find out more….
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A new exhibition in the British Library explores Charles Dickens’s interest and fascination with the supernatural. LESLEY FINLAY takes a look….
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Laura Harvey loves her job as an animateur for the Rambert Dance Company. Here she tells LESLEY FINLAY about her work…
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Young people are being given the chance to become part of a Guinness World Records art installation thanks to an ` project run by the Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts. LESLEY FINLAY found out more…
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Keith Gaines gives his view on exam boards, pensions and Govey - the Education Prefect!
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It is unusual for an artist to achieve success in his lifetime but David Shepherd is one of those who buck the trend. A new exhibition celebrates the varied works of this much-loved painter. Here LESLEY FINLAY finds out more about the man’s extraordinary life…
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You can expect nothing less but innovation done well at the Tobacco Theatre in Bristol. And that includes a performance of Cinderella, as reviewer ELENA MOZZATO found out...
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There is still time to catch the wonderful The Man with the Luggage, Trestle's current production. Lesley Finlay explains why you should get a date in your diary...
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The delightful images of ballet dancers became the trademark of painter Edgar Degas. But there is more to the images than meets the eye as LESLEY FINLAY discovered...
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Shiori Kase is making a name for herself as one of the darlings of the ballet world. She spoke to LESLEY FINLAY during a break in the tour of Strictly Gershwin in which she dances an acclaimed pas de deux...