Avenue Q Reviews: What the Critics Say

Avenue Q began previews at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 20 March 2026 and met the critics on press night, 16 April, twenty years after its London premiere. It came out of the night well, and the run has since been extended to January 2027.

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The Critics' Verdict

The notices ran from five stars down to two, with most of them landing on four. WhatsOnStage (Alun Hood) was the warmest at five. The Times (Clive Davis), The Telegraph (Marianka Swain), The Guardian (Arifa Akbar) and the Evening Standard (Nick Curtis) all gave four. Time Out (Andrzej Lukowski) gave three, and The Independent (Louis Chilton) was the outlier at two.

The critics were not arguing about the same thing they were rating. Nobody said the evening does not work. What they disagreed on was whether a comedy written in 2003 to shock people still shocks them, and reviewers who turned up expecting to be scandalised were not.

That settles what kind of night this is. Avenue Q was sold twenty years ago as the show that would offend you. What the reviews describe now is a very funny comedy with a soft centre that happens to be filthy, and the people who enjoyed it most went for the comedy rather than the offence.

What the Reviews Praised

The performances were the one thing nobody criticised, and it held right to the bottom of the range: The Independent, at two stars, still called them "all strong" and Rick Lyon's puppets "a marvel". The Guardian found "such physical and vocal exuberance" that "it really does seem as if the puppets are doing the talking, singing and shagging", and the Telegraph made the same point about the difficulty of it, describing an "energetic, multi-rolling" company who "seamlessly integrate the puppetry".

The songs drew the next round of agreement, and the praise was about craft rather than rudeness. WhatsOnStage found that "Lopez and Marx's earworm tunes... retain their sparkle and freshness", and the Times heard the same thing under the surface: the songs "enjoy thumbing a nose at convention". The Telegraph used the show as a stick to beat newer musicals with, calling it "this jauntily efficient show (from which many meandering new musicals could learn)".

The third point of agreement is the one first-time bookers do not expect, and it is why the show ran here for five years. Underneath the puppet sex and the swearing, Avenue Q is kind about its characters. The Evening Standard found it "surprisingly wholesome and hopeful despite the willfully offensive lyrics", and the Times summed the evening up as "deliciously louche humour with smart lyrics".

Where Reviews Were Mixed

Two criticisms came up more than once, and only one of them is likely to touch your evening.

The first is a single character. Gary Coleman, the building handyman, is a spoof of an American child star who died in 2010 and who means very little to a British audience now. The Independent built its two-star case on him, calling him a character "that carries so little cultural currency today it's almost avant-garde" under the headline "a Gen-X time capsule that should have stayed buried". WhatsOnStage, at five stars, spotted the same problem and shrugged, wondering aloud whether anybody under 40 knows who Gary Coleman is without Googling. The reviews furthest apart on this show agree on which joke has dated.

The second came from inside the four-star cluster rather than from the dissenters: that Avenue Q is softer than its reputation. The Guardian thought "the story itself is not especially strong", and also singled out the Japanese accent given to Christmas Eve as the most striking thing in the evening. The Telegraph called the show "fuzzy at heart" and said it "sometimes dips into schmaltz". Neither let it move the rating.

Time Out landed between the two camps at three stars, with the line that most people have quoted since: "if it's no longer very dangerous, it remains very charming." It was written as a mild complaint and it reads to most bookers as a recommendation.

Is Avenue Q Right for You?

You will probably love it if you want a properly funny night rather than a moving one, you already know the songs, you liked The Book of Mormon, or you are booking for a group in their twenties or thirties who will recognise the flat, the job and the dating history on stage.

You might want something else if anyone in your party is expecting a family puppet show, or would rather not sit through jokes aimed squarely at everybody. The 13+ guidance is honest and the show means it.

If you are weighing the two-star review against the rest, it is arguing about whether the show still shocks. If that is not why you are going, it is arguing about something that does not apply to your night.

Call us on 020 7193 9050 if you are unsure whether it is your kind of night. We will give you a straight answer.

Book Avenue Q Tickets

Tickets start from around £25, most seats sit between around £45 and around £95, and premium seats start from around £100, with weekends higher. All of our prices are all-in: the price you see on the seating map is the price you pay, with nothing added at checkout.

The final performance is 3 January 2027, and the run has already been extended once on demand. See full times, seat advice and the two-level layout on our Avenue Q tickets page.

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Sources: WhatsOnStage, The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, Evening Standard, Time Out, The Independent.