The Scottish alterations to this cheeky musical, first staged on Broadway back in 2003, caused ‘Avenue Q’ to soar, with great political resonance, into 2013. A cleverly Scottish Trekkie (Marie-Ann McGrattan) encouraged audience-wide smirks of admission during a close-to-home delivery of “The Internet Is for Porn”. A slight energy-lapse in Act 2 was rescued by the rib-splitting Bad-Ideas-Bears (in particular Alyssa Reeve), and the excellent ensemble seemed to invigorate the leads, as well as providing a treat for the audience. Occasionally the puppetry distracted some cast-members from their own facial activity, though Kate (Ruth Cobbin) and Nicky (Tom Mackley) produced heart-warming empathy with their woollen equivalents. A hilarious, slick and relevant performance of a very intelligent musical.

Assembly Hall, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 12.00pm.
tw rating 4/5 | [Kate Pasola]