AVENUE Q opened at the Bristol Hippodrome last night to an eager audience hoping for something ‘different’ – and that’s certainly what they got!

The show – which beat ‘Wicked’ to a Tony Award for Best New Musical when it opened in Broadway – is on its first UK tour after more than three successful years in the West End, and I couldn’t wait to sample another of Cameron Mackintosh’s delights.

But Avenue Q is about as far removed from Les Mis as you can get, with its swearing puppets and near-the-knuckle comedy songs, such as ‘Porn’ and ‘Everyone’s a little bit Racist." It is fresh, inventive – and just a little bit shocking.

Just like Sesame Street, both actors and puppets share the stage, but in this case the actors manipulating the puppets are in full view of the audience. Although this is a little confusing at first it doesn’t take long for the puppet and puppeteer to merge into one in the eyes of the beholder, and it is fascinating to watch the actors’ faces as they ‘become’ their puppet.

The plot is simple, and centres around a character named Princeton, who moves into an apartment on Avenue Q with nothing but a BA in English and a need for Purpose, and moves on to explore his relationships with all the quirky characters (both human, puppets and monsters) he meets there.

But this is where the similarities with Sesame Street end. Those who live in Avenue Q are young adults out to have a good time, just like everyone else – they like a drink, they have sex, they have secrets and they like to have a good old moan about the state of their lives.

The set is brilliant, and the lighting makes all the difference in a show where the acting is often frantic and – due to the nature of the show – involves quite complicated changeovers.

The cast work hard to make this work, and special mentions must go to Rachel Jerram (Kate Monster/Llucy the Slut) and Adam Pettigrew (Princeton/Rod), whose superb timing and talent as actors make it hard, at times, to differentiate between what’s real and what’s not.

The show makes a refreshing change from the usual musical fair, and makes live theatre accessible to a whole new generation. However, this is not a show for the easily shocked – Politically Correct it is not - but it must be given credit for being brave enough to tackle the harsh issues of life in an up-front and understandable way.

Avenue Q is on at the Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday, May 28.