739 stories by "Susan Elkin"
Drama UK is in a pickle. I had a 90-minute meeting with chief executive Ian Kellgren and membership coordinator Jude Tisdall just
UCAS forms were sorted last month, and most other applications are in. So it's about now that invitations to audition start dropping
It's always good to hear of a scheme which helps newly graduated actors and others to get going professionally. So well done
Is it ever okay to troll a critic online over a negative review. The Stage critic Susan Elkin warns of the consequences after several run-ins with pantomime artists over the holidays.
This is my last column of 2015 so I'm in a reflective mood. It's been quite a year for this blog. I've
I was quite academic and sporty at school. The local amateur groups in Devon where I grew up wouldn't have me "
I was recently bowled over by Evolution Pantomimes' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury. IÂ wrote a five-star review
Drama schools do their students no favours by dismissing pantomime as beneath their station. For many of their graduates, panto will be
Drama school is not for the faint-hearted. It requires dedication, maturity, self-knowledge and the ability to learn fast and to collaborate continually
In May 2016, a show called If is due to run for two and a half weeks at the 1,200-seat Royal Court,
I recommend Brian Blessed's memoir, Absolute Pandemonium, which has some graphically entertaining anecdotes, written in the actor’s inimitable boom. In childhood he
When Drama UK was formed in 2012 from a merger of Conference of Drama Schools and National Council for Drama Training, it
Yet another burst of emotive publicity last week informed us that the performing arts industries " and the training routes which lead
Christmas is hard work. And not just for the kitchen slave, present wrapper and tree decorator. Ben Roddy, an Evolution Pantomimes regular
Those who can, do and those who can't, teach. Well, not if you're an actor, because you can, and many do, run
My mind is firmly off the stage this week. November 19 sees the publication of The Stage's technical theatre issue. Then, on
I've long been intrigued by the permeable boundaries between teaching and theatremaking. And a recent conversation with Erin Sullivan, senior lecturer and
My highlight of last week was attending the annual Action for Children's Arts awards ceremony, hosted by the BBC in Portland Place,
How much do buildings really matter? It seems to be the year, indeed the decade, of new premises and facilities for drama
Drama UK accredits 18 schools in England. Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama now make their
Last week, I had the pleasure of seeing Honk! at Hazlitt Theatre, Maidstone, courtesy of Gillingham Dramatic Society. The standard was high
Four years ago, Alice King-Farlow set out to buy a book for her young niece. She wanted one about theatre and how
Speaking recently to an audience of theatrical teenagers and their parents, I was asked a fascinating, cut-to-the-chase question by a mother. The
There was never any doubt in David Wood's mind that he wanted a career in the entertainment industry. He caught the bug
I am a Stomp virgin no longer. I saw the show on Monday for the first time and, like almost everyone else
