Praise for Bedford School’s Recent Drama Production The 39 Steps

Published by Bedford Upper School on Monday 14th of January 2019

Bedford School’s latest drama production at the end of last term, John Buchan’s The 39 Steps, proved again how successful – and how much fun – working collaboratively with other Bedford schools can be. This inventive, ingenious and hysterically funny plot was performed by a ten-member cast made up of seven boys from Bedford School, two girls from Bedford Girls’ School and one girl from Mark Rutherford School. The extremely talented group of young drama stars had a challenge on their hands playing over 100 different characters between them, and they did so brilliantly. Whether a comedy fan or not, the show did not disappoint. With its fantastical storyline and slapstick humour, brilliant comedy timing and quick-fire interaction, members of the audience were literally falling out of their seats with laughter. The young actors made great use of the stage of The Quarry Theatre, and, much to the surprise of people sitting in the first few rows, even ventured into the auditorium at times! Set against a backdrop of vintage, art deco imagery and colour-changing lights, the show whisked its audience back to this bygone era. It was made even more believable by the superb acting from Bedford School Sixth Former Jamie Williams, who portrayed the main character Richard Hannay. His clipped English accent and ability to submerge himself completely into character sent the audience leaping back to the 1930s. It was hard to believe that the cast was made up from school pupils – their stage presence and sublime acting was that of professional actors and we look forward to seeing more of them in future productions.