Tabla de contenidos para January 2024 en Ink Pellet

Before we even sit down to talk, Emily and I agree that one of the most moving things in life – for either of us – is seeing young people achieving and developing, especially through the arts. Appointed to lead BYMT last year, she is now in a strong position to make that happen. “This job unites my two passions” she says enthusiastically. “Working with young people and new musicals.” In the past she worked extensively with young people as Artistic Director and Chief Executive at Trestle Theatre Company for fifteen years and then, for two years as executive Director at Mercury Musical Developments, an organisation for the writers of new musicals. any BYMT was founded in 2004 by John Bromwich to give young people experience of working together on…

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 separate corners to provide maximum safety. There are narrow benches for people to sit tightly packed in the gloom – and bucket toilets for those who were desperate. This air raid shelter is under the playground at Downs Junior School, Brighton where it lay forgotten until 1983 when it was discovered by accident. Then in 2012 a decision was made to develop it into a museum and an almost unique teaching resource. It was built in the summer of 1939 when war…

For a fully immersive theatre experience, you will have to go a long way to beat Nicholas Hytner’s spectacular staging of Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre. School parties will be encouraged to take advantage of the standing tickets, allowing audience members to fully experience the action at close hand. Cast members, dressed as police officers, help shepherd the standing crowd around the innovative staging elements, designed by Bunny Christie, as they rise and fall to create each scene. The sets are vibrant, with neon lighting evoking bars and street corners, swinging from New York to Cuba. There are of course many strong performers, but stand out were Cedric Neal (Nicely-Nicely Johnson), leading a rousing rendition of Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat, George Ioannides (Sky Masterson) and Marisha…

2023 marked the 60th anniversary of Joan Littlewood’s ground-breaking, devised show which satirised the absurdity and obscenity of war, roundly condemned the officers who gave the orders, issued relentless, chilling statistical reminders of the horrifying scale of the casualties and wrapped it all up in commedia dell’arte and songs from the First World War. Gone is the customary big cast. In this production it’s entirely in the hands of just six actor-musos. Rarely have I seen so much talent in a small space and never have I seen six actors work so hard. The energy level is phenomenal as they leap on and off instruments which they play with warmth and enviable competence, whether it’s an Irish jig or a poignant lament. There’s some terrific voice work. Harry Curley in…

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 in planning your school theatre trips, lesson planning, advice for school drama productions SUBSCRIBE TODAY at www.inkpellet.co.uk/subscribe for just £22.50 per year – includes FREE access to the full digital online edition SPECIAL OFFER: additional subscriptions to same school/college at just £15 ea!…

When he was a pupil at The Skinners’ School, Tonbridge, Brian Wright was in the school’s first ever A-level music group along with Christopher Hogwood, who went on to become a world-renowned early music specialist until his death in 2014. “And the man in charge was actually a French teacher”, chuckles Brian who had always sung seriously, first as a boy treble and then as a tenor. “He was a great enthusiast who let us do our own thing, so we had a chamber choir and musical collaboration with the local girls’ school.” “I joined local choirs too” says Brian who didn’t take to piano but enjoyed bedroom conducting. “Then someone at one of the choirs, who was an assistant to George Hurst, suggested that I sign up to one…

Given the shameful paucity of drama resources – and in some cases the lack of senior management commitment – in many secondary schools, I think mainstream teachers should actively collaborate with youth theatre providers in their area. I don’t mean the formulaic classes provided by the big franchise chains, although they may have a place. I’m thinking of the high-quality youth work provided by many enthusiastic professionals in venues and theatre companies. Last month I saw Peter Pan at the Rose Theatre, Kingston. Written by the always thought-provoking Evan Placey and a very long way from shallow pantomime, this topical show was a youth theatre production working with four core professional adult actors. So high was the standard of youth work that for the whole of the first half, until…

Well, I’ve seen plenty of A-list Macbeths over the years including Derek Jacobi, Roger Allam, Antony Sher and Jonathan Pryce along with dozens of less famous ones, but David Tennant blew my socks off. He has an exceptional talent for making every word of Shakespeare’s text sound naturalistic and inclusively modern. I’ve noticed this before but never so much as in this startling, original production. It’s a performance so magnificent that you dare not blink for fear of missing a second of it. Every seat has digital headphones and the effect is astonishing. The sound design (Gareth Fry) provides murmurs, cackles, and sinister breathing when the witches are about. There’s a raven which screeches from right to left so convincingly it’s hard not to duck. And it means that the…

Before speaking to Poojah, I printed off her CV as posted in the “about our team” section of the Tamasha website. It covered a side and a half of A4 paper. Yes, this woman is a powerhouse of achievements, interests and activities. And it’s all about leadership change and working with organisations whose ethos helps achieve this. We talked first about Tamasha, whose delightful name is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable and is an Indian word meaning a grand show or performance and, in some contexts, it aptly means a fuss or commotion. “Tamasha was founded in 1989 by director Kristine Landon-Smith and actor/playwright Sudha Bhuchar with the aim of putting South Asian voices on mid-scale stages”, says Poojah. “Since then, the brief has widened and we…

Your version of Romeo & Juliet will run at around 90 minutes. How did you go about deciding which bits to cut? It was important to establish a clear vision. Romeo and Juliet is a play about young people and we knew we wanted the spotlight on the younger characters. We also knew we wanted to explore the idea of time and the pressure on the characters to react and make quick decisions. It’s a long play with lots of characters and some of those characters don’t have a great deal of autonomy. Lady Capulet, for example, doesn’t say a great deal, so we decided to combine her and Lord Capulet’s characters to represent a single figure of authority and adult influence on Juliet. Being clear about our vision and…

ROMEO & JULIET 1-8 Feb 2024 New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich Following on from last year’s successful and critically acclaimed production of ‘DNA’, the New Wolsey Theatre will make a pacy and inventive 80-minute adaptation of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy, Romeo & Juliet, for students and teachers of English and Drama - and anyone new to the play. Alongside this professional stage production, the New Wolsey will be offering pre-show masterclasses with the director and cast for students and teachers, post-show talks and in-School workshops the following week. Auditorium tickets for students are £12, one free teacher ticket for every 10 students. For auditorium tickets and a masterclass, the combined price is £15. We also offer free assisting companion tickets for anyone requiring 1:1 support. Masterclass dates: Wed 7 Feb at 11.00am…

This thoughtful musical adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s 2016 book, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, is a homage to reading, stories and imaginative play. Charlie (Pierre Hanson-Johnson) is a bookworm. His younger sister Izzy (Freya Stephenson) has decided reading is boring and is trying to drag him out of his chair to play. In the end he agrees to start with a story and with their sparky Mum (Georgie Samuels) they play a whole series of book-inspired, make-believe games, including pirates, ghosts, birds, bears, dragons and more. Puppets pop out of books and there’s a gorgeous full-sized crocodile who eats books and then pops apart so we can see all the titles inside him like a washing line. He also, almost literally, swallows an encyclopaedia. Nearly all the puppetry is artfully devised…