Mrs Howe (Director of Drama and Dance)

‘Amazing’, ‘Soooo good!’, ‘The entire cast were absolutely brilliant’, ‘Very professional and utterly enjoyable’, ‘I will remember it for a long time’.

Talented students in Years 10 – Upper Sixth, from Bedford Girls’ School and Bedford School, produced four fantastically entertaining performances of Avenue Q (School Edition) last week, beautifully bringing to life a range of puppets and human characters with precision, skill, and confidence.

They transported their audience to the dilapidated Avenue Q, where Princeton, a wide-eyed college graduate, arrives to rent a room and find his ‘purpose’ in life. Things don’t go quite to plan and along the way, Princeton has to face many real-world problems such as finding and losing a job, learning about racism, getting an apartment, getting kicked out, being different, falling in love and discovering the world.

The shows were extremely well received by an appreciative audience, who recognised the high level of skill required to maintain the illusion of the puppets. Many audience members remarked how after a few moments they fully believed the puppet was alive, and were swept away by their stories and experiences.

This high level of puppetry was the result of an intensive period of rehearsals, where the cast learnt specialist puppetry operation. They also explored the particular vocal skills needed to replicate the vocal style of Jim Henson’s famous muppets, from which Avenue Q’s puppets take inspiration.

The cast and crew worked seamlessly as an ensemble to produce a slick and professional outcome. This was hugely impressive and testimony to their dedication throughout the creative process, and their maturity in tackling a number of taboo subjects with good humour and sensitivity. As one audience member said: “What could be better than ending the term smiling and laughing! Anyone who didn’t come to see Avenue Q, really missed out!”