Get your English Literature students writing their own scene for the stage to win books prizes and the opportunity to perform live! Bloomsbury Publishing launches student scene-writing competition for English Literature students: Belonging on Stage.

We all know that the arts are in peril – especially in schools, unless you are lucky enough either to have an exceptionally enlightened head or to be in an area where some wonderful charitable foundation is supporting arts education. Most of us have

BOVTS Summer Theatre Camp gives budding performers aged 5—10 the opportunity to unlock the world of creativity and imagination in a unique five-day theatre adventure. This year, students will embark on a journey to devise and perform their very own p

Your annual Ink Pellet subscription includes: Six issues per year – bringing you the latest from across the arts world, with useful advice for English & Drama teachers and students looking to further their studies Informative features to assist you i

Edited by Bel Parker Published by Methuen Drama The Big House is a UK-based theatre company which develops new plays with large diverse casts. It works with care leavers and people at high risk of social exclusion by providing a platform for them to

Where did you grow up? Portugal. My father is British – he teaches English – and my mother is Portuguese, so I grew up totally bilingual. As you can hear, my RP is more RP than most British speakers of it! I’ve had to work hard at cultural references

Robbie Gordon and Jack Nurse are a theatrical powerhouse. They met at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and have been working together since 2012. “Then, in 2017 we launched our company, Wonder Fools, which is now also a registered charity and it’s bee

A part from the crumbling schools, reduced budgets, squeeze on arts education through reforms to the curriculum, introduction of testing and assessments that have marginalised arts teaching, increased inequalities in access to arts education, shortag

The cavernous Brockley Jack pub near Crofton Park Station, SE London has a long history. It was a coaching stop, a hotel, and when I was a teenager growing up nearby in the 1960s, so disreputable that I was forbidden to go near it! Then in 1992 somet

Justin Audibert is lively, articulate and warm. We’ve met before to talk about projects at Unicorn Theatre. Now he’s a West Sussex man and delighted with his new, relatively rural life. “Yes, I’ve moved to Chichester with my family” he says happily.

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, owned, funded and administered by City of London is one of several UK Conservatoires with the potential for collaboration between music, drama and production arts. But – with its home in the Barbican – it is t

At the heart of the performing arts is often the written word – be it an adapted novel or original play script – so it is imperative to encourage and develop a love of reading from an early age. I was thus intrigued by a recent request to support the

Playground Proms is an excellent, if rare, example of something far-reaching and beneficial coming out of lockdown. “We wanted to do something, at a time when most arts events were off, so we started offering music performances to primary schools – o

The Junior Theatre Festival, taking place 18 & 19 May 2024 at The ICC, Birmingham, brings together schools and youth groups from across the UK and Europe for a day of musical theatre mayhem. Join MTI for a day of jazz hands and spirit fingers, and yo

It isn’t often you find an organisation which is actively searching for more schools and disadvantaged children in order to fund theatre experience for those who would otherwise miss out. TheatreWorks! is a charity founded three years ago by Sharon L

90-minute online courses for teachers on Shakespeare’s plays. These webinars are designed to introduce teachers to our rehearsal room approaches to engage students with learning about Shakespeare. Join us for inspiration, and insight into the shows o

Your annual Ink Pellet subscription includes: Six issues per year – bringing you the latest from across the arts world, with useful advice for English & Drama teachers and students looking to further their studies Informative features to assist you i

How did you get into show business? My mother ran a dance school in Paignton where I grew up and putting me on a chair nearby was a form of babysitting. And when she took her shows into local venues, I watched from backstage and became very intereste

There’s a lot of handwringing in education. Of course, it’s underfunded and Ofsted is arguably not fit for purpose. Moreover, most readers of Ink Pellet are probably worried above the relentless promotion of STEM subjects at the expense of the arts –

200 THEMES FOR DEVISING THEATRE WITH 11-18 YEAR – OLDS By Jason Hanlan Published by Methuen Drama Subtitled “a Drama Teacher’s Resource Book” this is a very practical and helpful support for any drama teacher in search of fresh, sparky ideas. And the

Linda Newbery was eight years old when she decided that she wanted to be a writer. “So, I wrote a lot – usually in secret because they told me at school that writing wasn’t a proper job” she says. “I was inspired by the books I loved. There was an ab

Zach Opere-Onguende arrived at Chickenshed in 2017 when he was 18. “I wanted to study computer science and then I did a BA Hons degree in Inclusive Performing Arts” he says. “Shed”, as he calls it affectionately, turned out to be a life changer both

By Sam Marsden Published by Morpho Press This is one of those really handy pocket-sized books full of information and practical ideas for teachers who reject the idea that children’s spontaneity should be curbed and want to learn, instead, to trust i

Your performance at Hackney Empire was delightful. How did it all start? I grew up in Walthamstow and started dance classes at Vestry School of Dance and Performing Arts when I was three. I loved performing and was there, in the end, almost every day

I’m in an air raid shelter. And that’s a first. I’ve read about them and seen films all my life, but this is the real thing – and it’s pretty moving as well as fascinating with its narrow, dusty passages constructed like a figure of eight with four s

In February, Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank returns with a production of Romeo and Juliet in the Globe Theatre. This gripping 90-minute production is created especially for young people and designed to support the curriculum. Public performan