Innehållsförteckning för March 2024 från Ink Pellet

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 Louise Studer and a group of colleagues. It operates in Britain and America. “In a way the pandemic worked in our favour”, she says, “because it gave us space to set it all up with the Charity Commission. Since then, in two years, we have given away 8000 tickets and want to give many more. We are very keen to expand.” First the practicalities: “Schools applying have to be outside the M25 because there are other charities, working to get London-based children to the theatre. There is also a requirement…

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 – among other justifiable anxieties. My memory, however, is long and I’m struck by how many things have improved enormously in education since my arrival at the chalkface – aka an all boys’ secondary school in Deptford in 1968. Here are five of them. First, the bar for entry into teaching has risen. When I went to Teacher Training College, all that was required was five O levels, subjects immaterial. Today it’s an all graduate profession and every teacher must have minimum level English and maths. That has definitely…

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 – outdoors and socially distanced. And “Playground Proms” seemed a suitably catchy name” says founder Cathal Ó Dúill. “I came to London from my native Ireland in the early 1990s to do a music degree at Guildhall School of Music and Drama” says Cathal, whose first instrument is double bass. “Then with friends I discovered the joy of street performing in Covent Garden and Graffiti Classics, which we formed in 1997, grew from that”, says Cathal, adding that this very interactive cabaret string quartet has travelled the globe including a…

RSC TEACHER WEBINARS 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 on our stages. 18 April, 4pm Love’s Labour’s Lost £10 per teacher www.rsc.org.uk/learn CERTIFICATE IN TEACHING SHAKESPEARE: FOUNDATION COURSE Are you passionate about inspiring children and young people to love Shakespeare? This three-day course will help you acquire the knowledge, confidence and skills to begin using approaches from our rehearsal rooms to bring to life Shakespeare’s plays in your classroom. Cost £450.00 UK State School Teachers £650.00 UK Independent School Teachers Date: 3 June 2024 www.rsc.org.uk/learn/schools-and-teachers/teacher-professional-development INSET DAY ON MACBETH A day of teacher training in your school exploring how to…

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 interested in the technical side. It was effectively a foot in the door. Meanwhile my hobby was ice skating … So did you then train in technical theatre? No. My parents wanted me to have as much education as possible, so I did a BSc Hons in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Sunderland (where I skated every day because there was a rink opposite) followed by a PGCE in Birmingham and two years’ teaching physics to GCSE and A level students in Nottingham. This…

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 abridged version of Black Beauty which I knew almost by heart, and I was very fond of Bambi by Felix Salten – I have never seen the film.” This neatly introduces the theme of animals and their welfare, which has been threaded through Linda’s work all her life and is very important to her. One of her most recent books (2021) – unusually not fiction – is Cruelty Free, which is about how our everyday choices affect animals and the…

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 for Zach and others he has worked with since. “To tell you the truth, I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder when I started here. If you’ve grown up in Tottenham as I did (although please note I’m an Arsenal supporter!) there is pressure to be tough and if, you’re vulnerable it gives you an attitude. I was always wanting to prove a point.” He continues: “What Shed has done for me is to let me use my brain in a reflective…