The puppet show is still rude and fun, but not so shocking
Shaftesbury Theatre
Avenue Q needs no introduction unless of cours you were a child when it was last in the West End 20 years ago. It’s perhaps best summed up as Sesame Street meets The Simpsons, only ruder. This revival brings back the original Broadway director, Jason Moore, and original puppet designer, Rick Lyon. On the whole the critics wallowed in nostalgia (there are very few updates to Jeff Whitty’s book), and seemed pleased to enjoy content that might be difficult to stage in a new show. Mostly they loved Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx‘s songs, although some dissented.
Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
5 stars ★★★★★
Alun Hood for WhatsOnStage summed up what many felt: ‘Avenue Q remains a delight, the theatrical definition of naughty but nice. Outrageous, smart and kind, it’s lovely to have it back.’
4 stars ★★★★
Tom Wicker for The Stage reported: ‘Its pitch-perfect, primary-coloured evocation of trying to get by in a world that never seems to give you a break is funny, weirdly touching and relevant. Some modernising tweaks to the book and songs to include references to AI-related job losses, social influencing and podcasts work seamlessly well.’ He declared: ‘for big laughs and a winkingly naughty jolt of hand-operated humanity, this show is hard to beat.’
The Standard’s Nick Curtis was delighted to see the show back: ‘It’s both hilarious and liberating to see goggle-eyed, gape-grinning puppets drinking, swearing and shagging. The pitch-perfect, genre-mocking songs (Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx) and the book (Jeff Whitty) gleefully demolish taboos in a way that should leave the “you-can’t say-anything-these-days” crowd sputtering over their keyboards.’
The Financial Times’ Sarah Hemming observed: ‘Some gags have aged badly, while others need rethinking (former child star Gary and cabaret dancer Lucy the Slut, for instance). But Avenue Q remains a bonkers, fundamentally big-hearted show with a salient message to hang on in there: the final song about transience, “For Now”, has a wistful ache that really lands.’
The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar was amused: ‘The force of the show’s faux-naivety works because of the comic dissonance between the puppets’ innocence – wide eyes, cutesy voices – and their adult misbehaviour (drunkenness, pole dancing, sex and betrayal). Lopez and Marx’s songs are a blast’.
The Times’ Clive Davis recommended: ‘If…you desire a musical that combines deliciously louche humour with smart lyrics, then you must get along to the Shaftesbury Theatre.’
His colleague Dominic Maxwell at The Sunday Times agreed: ‘I left it knowing that I had just seen a bracingly funny show that also knows that life is fleeting and that we all falter as we try to work out how the hell to live it.’
Marianka Swain reviewed for the Telegraph: ‘the joy of this jauntily efficient show (from which many meandering new musicals could learn) is that these existential crises are presented through catchy songs by Robert Lopez (of Frozen fame) and Jeff Marx. Along with Jeff Whitty’s crisp book, they temper the life lessons with a constant stream of bawdy gags.’
Anya Ryan for LondonTheatre mentioned: ‘With a cast as strong as this one, it is difficult not to be wowed by the cutesy charm of it all. Rick Lyon’s cuddly puppets are animated into existence by an ensemble who have the dance of it all down to a tee.’
BroadwayWorld’s Aliya Al-Hassan joined the chorus of praise: ‘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.’
3 stars ★★★
Louis Chilton for The Independent felt the show hadn’t aged well: ‘there’s no getting around how obnoxious and old-fashioned the show’s attempts at provocation now feel’ but he conceded: ‘The performances in particular are all strong, and involve an impressive juggling of singing, puppetry, and character-switching. The songs are bright and catchy, more pithy than substantial.’
Time Out’s Andrzej Lukowski reported: ‘The script has been given a cosmetic overhaul and now has references to Trump, AI, etc. It’s all pretty skin deep, though. Again: Avenue Q today is not the punky outsider it was almost a quarter century ago. But as a heritage musical, it remains a delightful one-off.’
Critics’ average rating 3.9★
Value rating 43 [Value rating is a combination of average rating and typical ticket price]
Avenue Q can be seen at Shaftesbury Theatre until 29 August 2026. Click here to buy directly
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