Avenue Q

Puppetry, porn, racism and homosexuality doesn’t sound like the ideal content of a hit West-End and Broadway musical; with the exception of Avenue Q.  This down to earth, if slightly surreal show follows the life of Princeton, a recent college graduate, as he moves onto Avenue Q and starts to experience ‘real life’ along side the other residents of Avenue Q.

Act one introduces us to all the characters and their problems with the opening song ‘It Sucks To Be Me’.  The song shows Princeton’s new neighbours arguing over whose life sucks the most, discussing unemployment, disillusion with life and the general difficulties of making a living when you’re from a poor area like Avenue Q.  The comedy in Avenue Q could be described as solely crude but is actually very near the mark; the song ‘Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist’ shows the neighbours discussing the fact that racism is an adult reality; Gary Coleman the black handyman, begins to tell Kate Monster off for a black joke but is quite content to tell other discriminatory jokes.  The audience finds itself laughing along, but acknowledges the truth behind the absurdity.

In contrast to the perfect timed if crude comedy, Avenue Q is almost heartbreakingly poignant in places; Kate Monsters song at the end of Act One, ‘It’s a Fine, Fine Line’ discusses the fine line between love and friendship and just how painful it is when the line is blurred and crossed. The audiences’ intense reactions to these characters are almost surprising; they find themselves sympathising with a puppet that is being controlled by visible puppeteers.  It says something about the skill of the performers to make the character so believable, and in some cases be puppeting a different puppet to the one their voicing!

Avenue Q is a lively tongue-in-cheek look at the idea of ‘life’ after college, both down to earth and completely absurd at the same time.  The songs are ridiculously catchy, the comedic timing precise and the characters so well rounded we find ourselves identifying with puppets.  The show ends happily in some respects, with Princeton and Kate Monster ending up together but is true to life in that not much has actually changed, Princeton never found his ‘purpose’ and they’re still stuck on Avenue Q, but they’ve got each other, and that’s all they need.