Sesame St but not as you know it

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

AVENUE Q is Gisborne Musical Theatre's latest offering and it's a fun night.

The cast and puppets make you laugh, and within that laughter there are some life messages.

The whole of the company's innovative little theatre space in industrial Innes Street has been laid out as a set and the audiences sit at small, café-style tables and chairs.

When you walk in it feels as if you've walked in to a Sesame Street set, but it is a very different kind of Sesame Street.

The puppetry work is excellent and the work the actors have put in to play them shows as they integrate beautifully. At times you don't realise the actors are there.

The show raises the big themes — life purpose and meaning, homelessness, racism, sexual identity, internet pornography, friendship, community, the journey to find yourself, negative influences and our inner demons.

That's a lot in two hours of musical theatre but the commitment of the actors still makes it an enjoyable night.

It's the story of one man's journey after leaving college and finding himself in the reality of bills, life responsibilities, unemployment, temptations, distractions, self doubt and relationships — the rites of passage into adulthood that most of us have faced at some time.

Anita Zwart and Kelly Griffiths as the Bad Ideas Bears don't miss a beat and, like the devil sitting on our shoulder, often outweigh the right choices we should have made in life. They are boisterous, ludicrous and great fun.

The two leads, Nicole Stannard as Kate Monster and Mike Seymour as Princeton, are in top form and carry the show beautifully.

A strong nod also to Samantha Millar as Lucy the Slut, with a great voice and embodiment of her character, who after a brush with death finds God.

But Avenue Q is an ensemble effort.

The show ends on an upbeat note with a nice little message about life — whatever is going on, just remember it is only for now.

Director Peter Derby writes in the programme notes :“Discovering one's purpose and identity is a difficult, never-ending process (but an invigorating process if one chooses to make it so) and in that respect we all live on Avenue Q . . .”

A little life wisdom and a lot of laughs, although not one for the kids.

■ Unfortunately before opening night, two cast members tested positive for Covid-19, so opening night has now been postponed to July 9.