Friday 15 April 2011

"What do you do with a BA in Journalism...?"

...Write a review on Avenue Q of course!

If you've ever sat and watched Sesame Street with a younger family member and wished life were as simple now as it were when you were young enough to appreciate it - enduring hours of puppets mindlessly singing about letters in the alphabet and eating cookies - then Avenue Q is for you.

The story surrounds a young college graduate (puppet), Princeton, who has left college full of the ideologies one collects through early life. He wants to know what his purpose in life is and why he is alive. He comes to Avenue Q -a suburb full of sell-outs and nobodies - to begin a new job, however he's laid off before the first day!

In comes Kate Monster... the girl next door (puppet). The first character to say the word 'fuck' which set the tone pretty accurately for the rest of the show. Kate has a dream to open a school just for monster children as she feels they're discriminated against... Princeton and Kate have a heated debate about racism which leads nicely into a cheeky little number, "Everyone's a little bit racist" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RovF1zsDoeM&feature=related Avenue Q manages to tackle everyday 'grown up' problems in a elementary - oddly sensible way!

Well to cut a long story short, Kate falls in love with Princeton who in turn falls in love with her but finishes things as he thinks being with her will stop him from finding his 'purpose'. Princeton has a one night stand with a slutty puppet, aptly named - Lucy the slut (so genius!). But when he realises there are many types of dream and you can find happiness in helping others they get back together at the end of the story.

The set is very cleverly done with only five or six cast members and countless puppets. The cast are very skilled are precise with their switching of characters and choreography. It can be hard to ignore the cast members at first as they are actually 'invisible' - grown ups like to use their imagination too! However, it becomes normal and the cast members also portray how the puppet is feeling through their facial expressions.

A nice little personal touch came in the form of a Pompey jibe which had the Southampton fans cheering and hooting.

An absolutely brilliant show. Luckily for me I went with a friend who works at the Mayflower and acquired a front row seat for £12.25 but I would pay full price to see it again tomorrow. I feel Avenue Q tackle just about every sensitive issue about growing up and leaving college and manage to put a optimistic spin on life's pissers!

Must see.

Everything in life is only for now...