Review: AVENUE Q, Shaftesbury Theatre

The puppet show pumped full of profanity is back. Jason Moore's outrageous Avenue Q premiered in the West End two decades ago, bringing issues such as racism, the housing crisis and youth identity crisis to the stage in a unique and incredibly clever format. Oh yes, and there is explicit puppet sex too.

Original Broadway director, Jason Moore, and original puppet designer, Rick Lyon, reunite for this revival, with tweaks to Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx's brilliant songs, and Jeff Whitty's sharp book. We meet English graduate Princeton, who moves on to the shabby Avenue Q. His neighbours become his friends, all navigating life's challenges of identity, money, sex and relationships. Princeton goes on his own journey of self-discovery trying and failing to find his own 'purpose' in life.

The simple story sounds potentially a bit worthy and stiff, but the show is anything but. Princeton begins a romance with neighbour Kate Monster who wants to start a school for Monsters to stop them feeling like outsiders. Room mates Rod and Nicky fall out over Rod's attempts to hide his sexuality; Japanese therapist Christmas Eve and her Jewish husband Brian struggle for money; reclusive Trekkie Monster won't come out of his apartment and is obsessed with porn and caretaker Gary Coleman is still coming to terms with his loss of childhood fame. There are also two bears that keep popping up to encourage binge drinking and possible suicide.

The now legendary songs such as "The Internet Is for Porn" and "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" might not shock as much as they did, but have stood the test of time with the catchy tunes and astute lyrics that are still very close to home.

There have been several updates to the show, with references to ChatGPT and cannabis shops, along with Princeton making Kate Monster a Spotify playlist rather than a conventional mixtape ("from olden times"). There is the inevitable mention of Trump and Lucy The Slut now is not just an OnlyFans star, but also is the one puppet who has been given legs for a perfectly performed pole dance. One update that hasn't been made is the retention of the character Gary; anyone under 40 won't have a clue who he was, despite alterations to the character's lines.

The cast is remarkable, singing, dancing and controlling the puppets with co-ordinated slickness that is often astonishing to watch. Emily Benjamin is outstanding as both reserved Kate Monster and gravel-voiced Lucy The Slut. Noah Harrison is cute-as-a-button as naive Princeton and thoughtful as the conflicted Rod. Charlie McCullagh proves to be endlessly adaptable as sweet Nicky, Manic Trekkie Monster and hilarious as Bad Idea Bear, teamed well with Meg Hateley.

Amelia Kinu Muss handles the potentially problematic role of the heavily-accented Christmas Eve with intelligence and attitude and is ably supported by Oliver Jacobson as her unemployed husband Brian. Dionne Ward-Anderson completes the main cast with huge fun as Gary.

The show no longer lands the shock that it did; subversive musicals are more of the norm these days such as Oh, Mary! and The Book of Mormon (which Lopez went on to co-write after Avenue Q). It's easy to simply be offensive; it's much harder to be witty, clever and also kind. Avenue Q works for many reasons, but one of the main ones is because it has a huge heart. Kate Monster's ballad “There’s a Fine, Fine Line” is as touching as it would be in any more conventional show and it remains remarkable how invested you become in these puppets and their struggles.

Anna Louizos's set design gives us the run-down tenements of Avenue Q complete with singing flower boxes, morphing into Lucy The Slut's Around the Clock Cafe and the bright lights of New York City. Jean Chan's costumes feature Adidas Sambas and pulled up socks, as well as a show-stopping wedding dress. Nina Dunn's charming video design retains many of the original graphics, with nice additions of Aldi and Netflix logos.

At a time when it seems like we are constantly told what not to say, Avenue Q still revels in speaking the lines that you may well be thinking. Rude, crude and totally unsuitable for children; it's great to have it back.

Avenue Q is at the Shaftesbury Theatre until 29 August

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