Puppet-society shows it's funny, furry underbelly

Prudes, churls and the straight-laced beware! Somewhere in the x-rated depths of London’s
West End, there’s a horde of neon-furred monsters and anatomically-active puppets boozing, schmoozing and reproducing their way to tragicomic glory. Avenue Q, the rampant display of smutty puppetry you didn’t know you’d been waiting for has opened at the Noël Coward Theatre and looks set to be a sell-out.

So what’s it all about? Well, there’s a black one, a gay one, a Jewish one, a prudish one, a housebound pervert, an out-and-out slut… stop me when you can see where this is heading. The main concept of the show revolves around the perversion of wholesome childhood entertainment – TV programmes like Sesame St. While the translation of the saccharine-sweet moral dilemmas of the kids TV shows to the soap-opera-esque “real-life” escapades of the Avenue Q characters is obviously a big jump, it’s actually amazing how similar the adult-version is - they still moralise (with songs like “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” and “It’s Ok to be Gay”) and you still feel a surprising empathy with the main characters. In fact, rather than a derisive mockery of infant entertainment, the show feels more like a joyful indulgence in a very straightforward form of amusement.  The leap from screen to stage is also surprisingly successful from a technical point of view; there’s no attempt to hide the “magician behind the curtain” and although at first it’s hard not to pay more attention to the actors, after a few minutes the puppets really seem to take on a life of their own and the two heads almost morph into one united character in your mind’s eye. The staging is cleverly compacted, live behind-the-scenes musicians add depth to the sound, the actors are very versatile and overall it’s a consummately slick production.

Avenue Q is not a sophisticated exposé of the modern condition, the humour isn’t dryly ironic and you won’t find poetry in the puppetry – so don’t expect it. What you should expect is a very American comedy (complete with George Bush and anti-Canadian jokes), which they have wisely avoided Europeanising for the London staging. It’s an all-singing, all-dancing explosion of a show with a massive feel-good factor largely attributable to the highly talented cast. It gets top marks for the sheer camp showmanship and, most importantly, it’s a real giggle… just don’t take your gran.

Get in the Q - buy tickets here.

Want to find out more? Visit the Avenue Q site

Sara Sha'ath

Comments

[5imon]

WOW. This is like the BEST show in a long time. (2nd only to Wicked right now). What a great concept for a show. Heart-warming, policitically-correct smut and Puppets to boot! To hear chararacters that you feel you've grown up with singing about porn, mix-tapes and racism is hilarous. You MUST go & see this show. It deserves it's run on the West End for years to come. For once, a show that "makes you leave the theatre feeling better about the human-race". Go on, do it, you know you want to. (",)

Poor. What an insult to the great imagination and puppet genius of Jim Henson. These morons have stolen the work of timeless and internationally renound puppet masters and degraded it by using the base of cheep toilet humour and sexual inuendo. Pants pants pants. And dont tell me that seeing the (excuses for) puppeteers doesnt detract from the play. Rubbish. Simply couldnt invent a better way to do it. I want my £50 back.

[NINA PATEL]

I loved this play and so did my friends..we were laughing all the way through. The songs were funny especially the one about porn and how it sucks to be me...It really does poke fun at the way puppets are normally seen on TV for example there were two bears which I believed to be care bears..except they were not caring at all!!!. They had characters that kind of resembled the characters burt and Ernie except one of them was gay!!!!..a lot of similarities between the characters of Avenue Q and Sesame Street except on Avenue Q its okay not to be politically correct, and its okay to sing about racism....This is tasteful and done in a way as not to offend people but to laugh at the way people are guilty of thinking. I would strongly recommend this play.

[Stu]

I have seen this twice now with two different casts and have loved it both times. Anybody who doesn't find this hilarious, heartwarming and life affirming really shouldn't be going to musical theatre. If you like Little Shop of Horrors (the 1986 movie, haven't seen the west end version yet) you will love it. Brilliant Music, Brilliant script and just a fantastic night out. I even bought the soundtrack.

[Little_Miss_Sunshine]

This is the best show EVER!!! and to hell with anyone who thinks otherwise. I've never laughed so much then when I saw this, the puppets and puppeteers were fantastic, I even met one of them, he was so cool and not to mention hot!
The songs were also amazing, i haven't stopped humming them!
Long live Avenue Q!!

[YouLookLikeDavidHasselhoff]

Acctually 5imon,the original broadway cast worked with Jim Henson on Sesame Street and his widow, children and him approved of it!
Henson also created the puppets for it!!
You obviously too it to seriously and have no sence of hummor...

[YouLookLikeDavidHasselhoff]

Really sorry 5imon i didn't mean you in the last post, it was the person who posted after you, i got confussed, really sorry again.

[Melly]

Thank you very much.i

[bruce]

Good show. totally recommended

[Amanda]

Hi our little brothers.e

[pomn]

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[bgg]

Thank you very much.s

[Keno]

You have an outstanding good and well structured site. I enjoyed browsing through it.e

[Jimpson]

Yes! so hold.t

[mcvnv]

Nice effect.

[Amanda]

Thanks a bunch!a