Sometimes a production comes along that really makes your heart sing and that was what we had the joy of experiencing tonight.

The other half and I have watched Avenue Q a couple of times before – many years ago – and I remember laughing all the way through so when we heard that it was being presented at Mountsorrel Memorial Centre we decided it was the perfect opportunity to introduce it to our eldest youngsters (16 and 17 years old) and, once again, we laughed, sniggered, blushed (in the case of the kids) and chortled our way through.

For those of you who have never watched or heard of Avenue Q – the fact that the warning on the front of the programme states “Parental Advisory Explicit Content and Puppet Nudity” should give you an idea into where the story may take you. I once described it as Sesame Street meets the Karma Sutra and there is at least one scene that definitely ticks that box. I could feel the heat of the blushes and sniggers from our youngsters as Trekkie Monster (with the perfect gravelly voice of Darrel Parker) may have been getting up to shenanigans during ‘You Can Be As Loud As The Hell You Want’ – as well as the other puppet nudity that was occurring at the same time!

It is the story of the development of friendships, love, self-awareness and Gary Coleman (well played by Gem Blake) and it really does have you laughing almost from the very beginning until the end. It is a show that, in a funny and subtle way, reminds us all that we are not infallible but that it is actually ok.

Avenue Q is, basically, the cheap area of town and we begin by being introduced to Princeton – a human in puppet form – wonderfully managed/handled/puppeted (what is the correct term?!) by Richard Kish who is looking for a room to rent but he can’t afford Avenues A – P. Princeton is a fresh-out-of-college young man who falls in love with a monster – of the cutest variety – Kate Monster who is performed by Emma Barnes-Mariott. Both these performers have such a lovely talent complementing each other perfectly – and Emma’s rendition of ‘There’s a Fine, Fine Line’ made me want to go and give Kate Monster a big hug!

Vocally every single member of the cast was spot on with their characters and they all worked beautifully with each other but, most importantly, not one of the puppeteers upstaged their puppet which is so important for a production like this – and none of them seemed out of place next to the two non-puppet and comedic characters of Christmas Eve (Chantelle Ruston) and Brian (Martin Weston) – or should I say they weren’t out of place in the world of puppets?

I mentioned self-awareness and it would be remiss of me to not tell you about the partnership between Nicky (Graham Buchanan) and Rod (Thomas Levi). They are the stereotypical “Odd Couple” with an unrequited love and the chemistry between these two actors was a parallel to Princeton and Kate Monster. It was a friendship that survives the test of time as well as the odd raunchy dream and these two actors had you believing so much in their friendship.

In the programme there are three entries of “Extra Arm” which I think is one of the hardest roles to play – because they are literally the extra arm to some of the puppetry allowing a broader scope for the puppets although each of the actors in these roles also had their own puppets to manage – with Philipa Buchanan as one of the pair of the cutest bad guys ever – the Bad Idea Bears – and Wil Morgan as the newcomer right near the end of the show. A special mention needs to go to the third extra arm Max Eaglefield though who brought the big and busty Lucy The Slut to life (they are all her own you know!). During the interval, when some of the puppets came into the bar area Lucy came straight towards our 16 year old son, Jack, with a slinky determination that had him blushing and not quite sure where to look 😀

This particular production was brought to us by Your Chance Productions and Aurora Puppet Theatre with puppets supplied by Paul Jomain and they are one of the NICEST bunch of ‘stagey’ people we have met – and we have met many over the years.

Jack has his sights set on going into puppetry and attended a puppet making workshop with Aurora Puppet Theatre at MMC earlier in the month – he still has one of his “wrapped paper” (I am sure there is a technical term but he is in bed and I am not going to wake him up to ask him 😀 ) puppets sitting on his drum kit in his room. I had also mentioned, on a Facebook post, that he was interested in puppetry and asked if there was any chance to meet the puppets to which I got a positive and welcoming response. On arrival at MMC this evening I chatted to one of the crew and explained, again, that Jack was interested in a career in puppetry. This crew member called me to one side just before we went in at the start of the show and said that the director had said we could meet the cast after the show – which we kept a secret from him.

I know how tired a cast can be at the end of a show – especially opening night – and, despite this, they all came out, with their puppeteers, to chat to him and presented him with a programme signed by the entire cast! He went to bed absolutely BUZZING so thank you to the director and founder of Your Chance Productions, Jessica McLean for adding even more inspiration to his future aspirations by arranging for this to happen…you are helping him find his purpose (iykyk!).|

Avenue Q runs at Mountsorrel Memorial Centre until Saturday 29th June and tickets can be booked here. I wholeheartedly recommend going to watch it if you fancy an evening or irreverent fun.