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Blackout Theatre: Avenue Q - Review by Daniel Conway

Updated: Oct 8

I am a fan of wrestling, a fact that shocks people because I am a theatre person. Except that if you think about it, the skills required for theatre and professional wrestling overlap significantly. Theatre and wrestling are about telling stories using body and voice, they require constant practice to perfect your craft, and they focus on creating characters that the audience is meant to invest in and cheer for. But most importantly, each relies on a fundamental agreement between audience and performer that what is happening is real while it is in front of you. They ask the audience to suspend logic or physics in return for a slice of escapism that you can buy into, if only for a little bit. This agreement is on full display with Blackout Theatre's production of Avenue Q. I am going to front-load my review with a disclaimer: I loved it. I will be gushing, and I don’t apologise for that.



Avenue Q is an exemplary production that had the audience in the palm of their hand on opening night. The integration of audiovisuals by director Jordan Anderson was superb. Watch out for the billboards, which primed the audience for big laughs and made paying attention to the set a treat. It was honestly astounding how Anderson managed to make a relatively simple set so intricate and dynamic. The combination of the windows and set pieces was used perfectly to really give this sense of being on the soundstage of a kids' TV show. Anderson used all the tools in his kit to pull together a tight vision that was immersive and fully realised.



The music, led deftly by Alvin Mak, was on point! The ensemble sounded wonderful and had the tone that perfectly riffed the style of vocals you would hear on Barney and Friends; every solo was perfectly done, and the band was so tight that if you had told me there were recorded elements, I could have believed you. This production is a feather in Mak’s cap that I hope he is proud of.


Jess Edwards had a challenge when it comes to the choreography. Puppets are not easy to work with. Bits get stuck, tangled, or can’t move, and so working with them can be tricky. It is a credit to Edwards that, for the most part, the big ensemble numbers looked impressive. As with everything, criticism here would be down to personal taste, but Edwards' work was effective visually and did a great job at creating fun shapes on stage to highlight the felt and fuzzy stars of the show.


Speaking of working with puppets, the cast of Blackout's Avenue Q knocked it out of the park! Working with puppets demands the audience forget you exist and for you to inject life into an object. This is the agreement that I wrote about at the top of this review. Every performer excelled at bringing their puppets to life. Normally, saying that you forgot someone was on stage is a bad thing, but in this instance, it is the highest praise I can give.



To see this in action, look no further than Princeton, Kate Monster, and Rod, played by Jack Maidment, Fiona Brennan, and Robert Hall. All three are charismatic and superbly talented in their own right, but they fully disappear into their roles, and every so often you catch yourself looking at them—usually when they have performed a truly beautiful number—and remember that, of course, the puppet isn’t singing. Maidment and Brennan have a wonderful energy, and they build on each other’s performances so well. Hall is hilarious with his physicality, bringing Rod to life, and he was my personal favourite at making his puppet interact with the humans on stage. To be clear, I think everyone with a puppet did a remarkable job. Jason Oxenham’s voice work was incredible, and Marika Zourlu killed the audience by giving Lucy a signature walk, while the duo of Dylan Boniface and Jess Pearce were utterly delightful as the Bad Idea Bears. Alexander Irby’s Trekkie Monster was hilarious, and Irby and Liam Vicari worked as a great unit to bring Trekkie to life. This is a show with so many highlights that I have had to edit myself down, or else I could be writing forever.


The second hardest thing about working with puppets is working against them as scene partners. The strictly human ensemble was delightful and did an excellent job of engaging with the puppets to keep the conceit alive. Lisa-Marie Long was a scene-stealer as Christmas Eve. She was so funny, so quick, and so magnetic on stage. This was even more impressive when learning that she only stepped into the role six weeks before opening night. Koren Beale as Gary Coleman was a highlight. When Beale sings, her voice is so beautiful that I would pay good money to hear her, so she stands out in her solos. Andrew Jackson as Brian is so likeable and warm; he is perfectly cast in this role.



Blackout Theatre Company has had an impressive run of shows the last few years, and this is no exception. But in all honesty, how could they not, with a cast this stacked with talent, a solid directorial vision, and a production team that clearly knew what they wanted from their cast?


This was my favourite show I have seen this year by no small margin. I recommend this show to anyone who watched the Muppets and thought, "Needs more sex."


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Guest
Oct 07

Can’t agree more. It was phenomenal

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