This Revival Has Me Baffled (i don’t know why i chose this clickbait title, sorry)
I’m currently working on a video for my YouTube Channel about the “anti-woke” playwriting competition that caused a slight furore in the decade that was January. I’m using the topic to discuss the role theatre can play in politics. And there’s a few fun rants along the way; it’s been cathartic to explore some of the political history of theatre that many are unaware of or wilfully ignore.
As I’ve been editing, I’ve been thinking of all the examples that are beyond the scope of my video (I don’t think anyone wants to hear two hours of me waffling on). For example, in commercial theatre, revivals make up a significant portion of the shows produced. And that made me think of the political implications of what gets revived.
And that got me thinking about Avenue Q.
Buckle up, buttercup, coz I have some thoughts…
For those not up on your 21st Century musical theatre, Avenue Q is a Tony Award winning Broadway musical that first opened at the John Golden Theatre in 2003, and then transferred to the West End’s Noel Coward Theatre in 2006. It plays on the format of Sesame Street, with puppet characters and life lessons galore.
As someone who discovered the show in my late teens, it very much encapsulated the zeitgeist I was experiencing. The main character, Princeton, is a college graduate with a BA in English struggling to find his start in life which was, y’know, relatable. But I’ll admit I was a little surprised that anyone would think to revive it now. My thoughts immediately went to the famous song, “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist”, which was hilarious in the noughties when the theaterati (and I include myself in this term I’ve just coined) thought capital ‘r’ Racism was behind us. But when many African Americans are more concerned with their murder being livestreamed than whether or not they can get a taxi ride home, it seems a bit tone-deaf. I saw a Swastika graffitied on the train recently; I don’t think accepting bigoted assumptions is the answer to the problem.
The big question I have is why is Avenue Q being revived now? Let’s go through the theories one by one:
1) Nostalgia and Escapism
Avenue Q is a millennial show. And what do millennials love more than avocado toast and oat lattes? Nostalgia. Look, we were lied to. We were sold a golden future where student debt was a worthwhile trade off for job security, where we could save the world by recycling, where our problems would always be first world. World War 3 started by a cabal of billionaire nonces was not on our bingo card, y’all! So yes, maybe we will flock to the theatre to affirm that we do, in fact, wish we could go back to college, when we didn’t know what was coming for us and mixtapes still existed.
Related to this is escapism, which I was going to put as a separate category, but the Venn diagram is almost a circle to be honest. Even for those who aren’t nostalgic for the mid-2000s, it would be bloody nice to escape to a world where 75% of the characters are puppets and you can let life roll off your back because the state won’t kill you first.
2) Existing IP and Show USP
Turning our attention to the producer side of things, nothing makes an investment feel low risk like existing intellectual property. You have the built in fanbase. You have the people who missed it the first time. You’ve already got your Tony Awards to splash all over the marketing. You have brand recognition, baby! If the puppets aren’t a theatrical USP, I don’t know what is. On paper, at least, Avenue Q has a ton in its favour.
I think there’s also been some consideration of who has disposable income. Which, after the Baby Boomers, are ostensibly Millennials and Gen X. I mean, we’re not spending our money on kids and houses, are we?
Monopoly houses count, right? Image by Júlio Cesar J.Cesar from Pixabay
I wouldn’t be surprised if the producers are counting on the aforementioned nostalgia to lure us away from our emotional support plants and onto Shaftsbury Avenue. And who knows? Maybe it’ll work. I know I’m morbidly curious to see it, which ain’t nothin’.
3) Lessons in Resilience
There’s one other theory I have that is slightly less cynical. Avenue Q is all about coping with life’s trials and tribulations, from navigating love to finding your purpose. Are the stakes in the show a lot lower then they currently feel in real life? Yes. But maybe that’s what we need: a sandbox where we can watch the coping mechanisms of schadenfreude, nihilism and mental health walks play out before trying them out ourselves in our own lives.
Don’t get me wrong, in the Year of our Lord 2026 we need more than laughing at the pain of others and writing off political correctness. As I said, I don’t think that “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist” is the take we need right now. But let’s be honest, it’s comforting to remember that one day the old, rich, white men fucking up the world right now will die. And in the meantime, we might as well pause the doom scrolling and go see a show.