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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Forty-three years since its foundation, ALRA (Academy of Live and Recorded Arts) continues to develop talented performers across many disciplines. Susan Elkin went to find out more. ALRA has come a long way since Miranda Hart and Jimmy Akinbola became its most famous alumnae. For a start, it’s the only drama school in the Federation […]
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An unusual collaboration between the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Acland Burghley School in London aroused the interest of Susan Elkin. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) has a new home. It is now based at Acland Burghley comprehensive school (ABS) in Camden. Three offices will be adapted for the administration team, […]
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Chris Hocking, Principal & Director of the School of Musical Theatre, and Julie Spencer, Director of the School of Acting, at ArtsEd offer advice for auditionees in these unusual circumstances. Due to the current situation around Covid-19, ArtsEd have taken all first-round auditions for BA (Hons) Musical Theatre and Acting courses online, meaning auditionees will […]
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Being one of the smallest drama schools in the country certainly hasn’t held back this rural drama school, nor its esteemed alumni. Susan Elkin is our guide. When George Peck founded The Oxford School of Drama in 1986 he was breaking new ground. An actor/director used to working with students, he wanted to offer fresh, […]
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Bereft of being able to visit galleries in person, Graham Hooper has put together a tour of wonderful online ‘visits’ for you to experience during lockdown.
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HighTide Theatre Company has announced the first phase of its Inventing the Future programme, a range of initiatives to support the rebuilding of the arts sector in its current recovery phase and made possible by a grant of £78,000 from the Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund. This includes the launch of School of HighTide and two new Higher Education partnerships with London College of Communication at University of the Arts, London and University of East Anglia.
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Susan Elkin implores you to maintain a broad reading list for younger readers, including titles perhaps now overlooked.
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Susan Elkin caught up with theatre director, writer and performer Alex Knott for a socially distanced coffee chat.
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Alexia Khadime is a talented actress of stage and screen, taking time to support others during the enforced closure of theatres. Susan Elkin caught up with her for a chat.
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RCS in Glasgow is the cultural beating heart of the city. Susan Elkin discovers more. Glasgow is an artistically vibrant city. Of course we all think first of Edinburgh and its famous festivals but based, and thriving in, solid, elegant Glasgow are Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and Scottish Symphony Orchestra along with Citizens and Tron […]