By Mrs Horton (Drama Teacher)

A group of eighteen Year 9 students had the fantastic opportunity to perform at Bedford Modern School as part of the ACT!'25 festival on Monday evening. This event, which brought together young talent from five different schools across the town, saw our students collaborate on an imaginative and creative comedy performance.

Drawing inspiration from the theme of detectives and the well-loved TinTin franchise, our students devised their own performance that used well-known characters from the series such as TinTin and his faithful dog Snowy, the Thompson Twins (re-created as “Tami and Tami”!) and an elaborate appearance from Bianca Castefoiore the famous opera singer. Using a wide range of non-naturalistic techniques and a lot of the girls’ own comedic personalities, the piece effectively told the story of poor Mattchew who had his voice stolen by Bianca, but was courageously investigated by three bumbling groups of detectives who eventually worked together to restore Mattchew’s voice and end in all the characters forgiving each other and making friends.

A highlight of the process was a workshop led by professional actor, Nav Sidhu. Through his expert guidance, the students honed their skills and developed a deeper understanding of the techniques they applied to their performance. The final production reflected the students’ commitment throughout rehearsals and was warmly received by the audience with lots of laughter!

The students performed alongside four other schools, BMS, Goldington Academy, Wootton Upper School and Lincroft Academy, each offering their own interpretations, contributing to a varied and engaging evening. It was an opportunity to showcase creativity and the impact of theatre in engaging audiences. We are proud of our students’ efforts and the dedication they demonstrated throughout this valuable experience.