Theatre Royal, Portsmouth- until 30 May 2026
Reviewed by Lorna Hancock
4****
With book by Jeff Whitty, and music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. This rude, hilarious and heart-warming musical is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary this year with a West End revival, so what a great choice of performance for the multi award-winning Portsmouth Players as part of their centenary year celebrations.
Avenue Q is a hilariously irreverent musical that follows a group of confused twenty-somethings, attempting to figure out life, love, work, and their purpose in a run-down New York neighbourhood. Blending catchy songs, sharp satire, and brilliant puppetry with some very adult humour, following the life of recent college graduate Princeton and his eclectic misfit neighbours. It could easily be described as the adult version of Sesame Street, with puppets facing some very real life issues from relationships and sexual identity to ambition and internet addictions. I must however note, that this musical (with songs such as ‘The Internet is for Porn’ and puppets performing explicit acts on stage) is not for the easily offended.
The musical started strongly with the song ‘It Sucks to be Me’, and we were introduced to all of the main characters. It was obvious from the beginning, that the stand out performer for me was Rosy Stephens playing Kate Monster, and as her story progressed, I was extremely impressed by how much character and feeling she managed to portray through her puppet. With superb vocals she really showed the awkwardness of an early relationship through her song ‘Mix Tape’, and a touching rendition of ‘There’s a Fine, Fine Line’, depicting the confusing thin line between love and friendship that I’m sure many audience members relate to. I also loved her duet with Rod (Charlie Frame) ‘Fantasies Come True’, such impressive vocals and the two sounded brilliant together, my only complaint was that this song wasn’t longer. Charlie played a brilliantly confused Rod and his performance overall was the other one that really stood out for me.
I have previously seen this show in the West End and The Portsmouth Players certainly did it justice. The cast was brilliant. It’s impossible to mention everyone, but I must mention Rachel Dean, always making us giggle with her excellent portrayal of Christmas Eve, she also showed us her powerful vocals in the humorous song ‘The More You Ruv Someone’. I must also mention Adam Fox who really brought Princeton to life through his animated facial expressions. I similarly loved Ben Irish as Trekkie Monster and Matt Gibbins as Nicky.
All together, a thoroughly enjoyable evening, roars of laughter were regularly heard throughout the theatre. Although Princeton may have spent the show in search of his ‘Purpose’, it was quite clear to the whole audience that the purpose of this show was to make us laugh.