Puppets behaving badly proves to be long-term winner

“That it’s ended up being six and a half years is just beyond anything we could have expected.”

Avenue Q began Off Off Broadway, before the success of the puppet show propagated a move to Off Broadway and ultimately Broadway and the West End in London.

Next week the show arrives in Bradford as part of a nationwide tour which has already taken in much of the country.

“It’s about universal themes, that’s what I put the success of the show down to,” says Ensign, who is officially in charge of “national tour staging” although explains that in America the job titles on theatre shows are a little different to those in the UK and that he is essentially the show’s director.

Ensign might be right about the universal themes of Avenue Q being one of the big reasons for its popularity, but that is to forget one other very important point – it is also about puppets on stage being very politically incorrect, rude, lewd and exceedingly funny.

It tells the story of a bunch of puppets that look suspiciously like they might have once popped up on Sesame Street, having fallen on hard times. Avenue Q, in New York, is where they end up – along with all their attendant problems, relationships, prejudices and all.

Ensign agrees: “There is definitely something there that appeals to audiences who have grown up watching puppets in Sesame Street and The Muppets, now seeing puppets that look like that behaving outrageously.

Avenue Q, Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, June 6 to 11.