Livin' it large on Avenue Q

There’s not a lot new that can be said about Avenue Q, on the face of it. It can be succinctly described as the unholy offspring of _The Muppets, Sesame Street _and the real world, blending classic Jim Henson-style puppetry with irreverent humour and adult themes.

"Avenue Q sticks two fingers up at life post-education."

There’s a vicious streak of satire running through the entire thing, and the use of puppets is just a cutesy smoke-screen for the grown-up, ugly goings-on underneath. _Avenue Q _is a frank look at life post-education, at the time when you feel like you should really be getting a grip on your life, working a solid career, finding love, settling down, all that jazz. _Avenue Q _sticks two fingers up at that.

Said two-fingered salute commences from the opening song. Newly graduated Princeton (Richard Lowe) appears, sings a few lines about feeling that he could change the world, and then the real thing starts. Kate Monster (Sarah Harlington) and Brian (Richard Morse) get the ball rolling with ‘It Sucks to be Me’, which within the space of a few minutes lays out the themes that the rest of the musical will follow.

All this takes place around one, static set – the titular Avenue Q. A run-down block of houses, it appears deceptively simple, initially looking just like some doors and windows for the cast to enter/exit through or appear in while looking out. It quickly turns out there’s more to it than that. At various points, the fronts of the houses lower down to reveal a miniature interior, acting as a neat background to the goings on that removes the need for complication scene changes. There’s also a large section that detaches and opens up to become a bar for one scene, adding a greater level of change than originally looked likely. Throw in a neatly-lit backdrop (and at least one massive inflatable head that pops up from behind the houses), and it’s a clever way to achieve a lot with a little. Touring productions are always variable in quality, not least in the set, so it’s a genuine treat to see something that’s so simple yet functional without any obvious detractors.

"'Everyone's a Little Bit Racist' manages to be hugely offensive and hugely entertaining. A double win."

The way the cast move around the set is also ingenious, with judicious use of multiple puppets (and an ensemble to operate them) allowing the likes of Trekkie Monster (Stephen Arden) to appear at completely different ends of the stage within seconds for such musical treats as ‘The Internet is for Porn’. If you didn’t already know that was one of the song titles: you’re in for a treat. A treat compounded by the likes of ‘If You Were Gay’, which manages the delicate double act of being slightly offensive and hugely entertaining (while also slyly taking the mickey out of Sesame Street’s Ernie and Bert), and ‘Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist’, which manages to be hugely offensive and hugely entertaining. A double win in everyone’s book (except, perhaps, the easily offended, who probably shouldn’t be here anyway).

Those three songs are easily the musical highlights, although that’s a relative term in a musical as strong as this. The songs are all either side-splittingly hilarious or touchingly emotional. As with almost all musicals, the earlier songs are the strongest (which is where ‘Internet’, ‘Racist’ and ‘Gay’ come in), but the quality doesn’t let up for the rest of the show. ‘There’s a Fine, Fine Line’ is a cute act-closer, while ‘Schadenfreude’ is a merciless mockery of how, despite our pretensions, we all still take significant amounts of pleasure in the misery of others.

_Avenue Q_doesn’t really let up throughout its run-time, taking as many pot-shots at as many targets as it can possible think of (and then a few more besides), even going so far as to at one point send the cast round, caps literally in hand, to beg a few quid off the audience (the money they collect is donate to various charities after the show). And then complain about their pitiful take. The story does weaken somewhat by the end, relying on some obvious contrivances, but it’s all in such good humour (and so patently ridiculous) that the only choice is to accept it, laugh at it, and move on – arguably a good idea for life, truth be told.

There are a few minor flaws – the sound is sometimes a little weak, not always doing the (naturally small, due to the touring nature of this production) band justice, while the use of a couple of video screens detracts from the high production values elsewhere. The screens are tiny, the animation is low quality, and were it not for the fact they’re needed for a couple of plot-advancing jokes the show would be better off without them.

Fortunately, the flaws are outweighed by the quality on display elsewhere, not least in the cast. Every single cast member is flawless, and the hours upon hours (upon hours upon hours) of rehearsal time they must have spent with the puppets has paid off handsomely – the puppets are seamlessly integrated into the show, with the occasional hand-offs necessitated by having several key roles doubled-up occurring seamlessly, to the point where most of the audience barely even in notice. Honestly, you hardly notice the puppeteers generally – as with the Muppets, the puppets are instantly accepted as ‘real’ without question, and the fact that even here, where there is so clearly someone standing behind the puppet and controlling their every movement, that’s still the case is something genuinely magical.

This magic is rounded off by such inspired moments of genius as the Bad Idea Bears, which do exactly what the name suggests, providing some truly terrible ideas with infectious enthusiasm and adorable appearances. Quick side-note: to whoever runs the Bad Idea Bears Twitter account (and yes, obviously that exists): you are responsible for the greatest piece of theatre marketing ever.

Credit must also go to whoever’s been responsible for ensuring that each theatre, alongside the usual strobe and haze warnings, have been putting up signs alerting audiences to instances of ‘mild puppet nudity.’ Consider yourselves warned.

This review is based on seeing the production at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester. Avenue Q was at the Greenwich Theatre until 26th May, and is now continuing to tour the UK. Tickets from £20, available online.

For the record, I also saw _Avenue Q _while it was at Greenwich. I stand by everything I said for its stay at the Mercury.