Theatrical Interlude 3

Avenue Q (Theatre Royal, Norwich) March 2011

Reading has taken a back seat this week as I've been out quite a lot, including 2 theatre trips.

Mr Bookworm and I went to see Avenue Q on Tuesday night. We both knew we wanted to see it - a good friend had recommended it a long time ago but we never did manage to get to London before it finished - but neither of us really knew what it was about.

It turns out that it is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. There isn't an awful lot of plot a guy leaves uni with an English degree, can't find a job, ends up living on Avenue Q with a bunch of very different people and has an increasingly crazy time.

The interest comes in that half the cast are puppets. Not bad actors but Muppet style, hand held puppets. The puppeteers aren't hidden though, and they aren't ventriloquists, they are fully part of the show. It sounds mad, is very hard to describe but is fantastic. It is all a bit rude though what with songs entitled The Internet is for Porn and the simulated puppet sex...

A great night out and I've been humming songs form the show ever since. Perhaps going to the theatre knowing nothing about the show bar some of the songs is the way to go - it has certainly worked for me so far this year.

The other piece of the theatre I saw won't be written up until next week as it was the National Theatre Live's Frankenstein. This has a dual cast so any thoughts will wait until I've seen it performed both ways.