Churchill Theatre, Bromley 8th – 12th September. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
This is your classic boy meets monster love story, with puppets, porn, foul language… and Gary Coleman.
Basically everything you need for a great night out.
The inhabitants of Avenue Q are a mixed bunch – the humans are hysterical stereotypes, with child star Gary Coleman working as their building super. The puppet population are the relatives that the Muppets pray the Daily Mail will never find. Instead of Bert and Ernie we have Rod and Nicky – with Rod the Republican struggling to come to terms with his homosexuality. Cookie Monster is replaced by Trekkie Monster, a porn loving bundle of matted fur that will have you crying with laughter. The set is a grubbier version of Sesame Street, and the choreography and musical style takes you back to hung over Saturday mornings in front of the TV.
The puppeteers are astounding. At first, you don’t know whether to watch the puppet or the actor’s face, but very soon they become one; with the actors’ body movements adding expertly to the whole character. The whole cast gave brilliant performances.
The course of puppet love is littered with obstacles, the most curvaceous being Lucy the Slut. Along the way Princeton learns valuable life lessons, mostly through fabulous little cartoon and parodies of Sesame Street’s educational clips. The songs and jokes manage to insult every minority group under the sun, creating more belly laughs than I’ve ever heard in a theatre. Song titles include: If You Were Gay, Everyone’s a little Bit Racist, I’m Not Wearing Underwear Today, and my favourite – The Internet is For Porn. If using public transport on the way home, it’s best not to be singing these – I got some very strange looks.
There’s even a very energetic sex scene – which got the biggest cheers of the night. Very educational.
Full of joy, laughs and twisted morality, Avenue Q is well worth checking out – just don’t take your mother!
UK tour dates until 21st May 2016