"Avenue Q" Review

"Avenue Q" posters

I had the pleasure of seeing Avenue Q today.

The play involves puppets and tells the story of Princeton, a young man who has recently graduated from college and is now trying to find his life's purpose. On his way to discovering himself, he moves to Avenue Q, where he meets a variety of hilarious characters.

I was initially hesitant to go see this because of my automatonophobia (according to Wikipedia, "the fear of anything that falsely represents a sentient being")/ pupophobia (fear of puppets). But after hearing so many good things about the production, I decided to face my fears for the sake of the play's purported hilarity.

And boy, was it worth it. Avenue Q is full of catchy songs and what most people would probably consider inappropriate humour - several times, it leaves you simultaneously laughing and thinking "oh my god, they really went there". The play is often brutally honest about everyday issues; listen to the songs "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" and "Schadenfreude", and you'll know exactly what I mean.

The cast at the Lower Ossington Theatre was incredible - I'm really impressed by every cast member's ability to act, sing, dance AND manipulate a puppet (sometimes more than one!). The audience involvement was really fun to see as well - the actors were great at improvising humorous responses.

This play tells the story of my life in several ways, so I found myself laughing not only at the lyrics, but also at how relateable it is. Seriously, "What Do You Do with a B.A. in English" is a gloriously accurate song.

I had an incredible time watching Avenue Q - it hits all the right notes, in more ways than one.