A review of Avenue Q, Fringe 2024

Okay, I’m an ignorant oaf. I knew Avenue Q was an adult puppet show and controversial. That was it. No research. I bought my ticket and jumped in the deep end. 

Oh, and since I bought my ticket, I also followed the Strictly No Photography During the Performances rule rather than wave a press pass and beg/demand an exemption. I’m not that guy. Instead, I walked up to the empty stage during the intermission and took a photo then. I’m the guy with no puppet pics to share.

Given my lack of knowledge, you can imagine my cringe when the white people began to sing a song about how everyone is a little bit racist, and maybe we should be okay with that. Then it got worse as the people of colour and the performers joined in.

Edgelord comedy with puppets? Yes, I think so. Except that’s not much of a compliment, and I enjoyed Avenue Q. To be kind, the show’s creators are not giving anyone toxic a platform and might well have been trying to draw attention to awkward subjects.

Tone

I sat with a young audience who laughed along but gossiped at a few scenes. Based on my eavesdropping, tonight’s audience was mainly left-wing and woke.

There’s no suggestion from the Edinburgh Fringe performance of Avenue Q that it’s a Trojan horse of right-wing manipulation. Let’s hope it remains that way.

Avenue Q is styled like Sesame Street or another kids’ show with teaching moments. There’s nothing kid-appropriate about the swearing, drugs, porn and a host of taboo subjects.

It turns out that I actually knew some of the songs. “The Internet is for Porn” is one, and I’ve found an old and higher-budget version of the song on YouTube.

I think that gives you a feel.

I was impressed with both the singing and the puppetry. Some of the puppets needed two people to operate. For the larger models, someone standing behind and to the left of the main puppeteer to help move the puppets’ left hand was generally needed, and it was impressive how the two humans moved together.

I think Act One had some sound problems with the music, which was high enough to drown out the singing a little too much. There was also the occasional moan of microphone feedback, but I did go to the very first performance. The sound gremlins were all squished by Act Two.

What to expect

Our perhaps-hero is looking for somewhere to live and ends up in Avenue Q. There, he makes new friends and causes ripples.

There’s a love story between him and Kate Monster, a puppet struggling to accept that he’s gay, a multiracial couple, Gary Coleman, the ex-TV child actor, the Trekkie Monster, and a few others.

There are also the Bad Idea Bears, who carry responsibility for some of the bad decisions the characters make.

Expect some casual racism, some poorly presented female characters, some cruel treatment of homelessness and biting social commentary. Don’t expect apologies or excuses for any of these terrible things. Avenue Q is trying to hang a light on these subjects to ensure they don’t hide from us. The fact that the controversy has helped to make the play famous is also part of the plan.

Overall

Avenue Q did make me cringe at times, and I’m still debating how cynical the shock tactics are, but I guess I’m a sucker for puppets talking about challenging subjects as musicals because I enjoyed it.

I don’t need to see it again, I wouldn’t recommend it to my parents, but I encourage others to see it.