New Wimbledon Theatre – until 9th February 2019
Reviewed by Alexandra Sykes
5*****
Nothing beats a trip to the theatre on a cold, damp night, especially if the show involves non-stop laughing. Avenue Q is currently delighting audiences in Wimbledon and as all the seats were filled, laughter clearly is the best medicine.
Avenue Q follows a puppet named Princeton (Lawrence Smith) as he goes to live in New York after graduating college. Whilst looking for somewhere to live that is affordable he stumbles across Avenue Q where he meets Kate Monster (Cecily Redman), Rod (Smith), Nicky, Trekkie Monster (both voiced and operated by Tom Steedon) and humans Brian (Oliver Stanley), Christmas Eve (Saori Oda) and former child star Gary Coleman (Nicholas Mclean). Although they don’t live on Avenue Q, Princeton also meets the Band Idea Bears (Megan Armstrong and Tom Steedon) and Lucy The Slut (Cecily Redman), puppet characters who have a less than positive influence on Princeton’s life.
With many catchy songs in the show including Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist, The Internet is For Porn and Shadenfreude keeping audiences laughing a mention must be given to Dean McDermott who leads the band.
An enjoyable show however it is not suitable for everyone. Anyone who is easily offended shouldn’t see the show and most venues will not allow anyone under 16 in due to adult themes. Star of the show is easily Cecily Redman who voices and operates both Kate Monster and Lucy The Slut, two characters who are very different from one another but Redman brings them both to life and gives each character their own personality. Although you notice the puppet operators on the stage it is the puppets you pay attention to although the actors will walk in the manner of their character when walking around the stage.
All in all a very good night out and well worth the laughs.