First up, let’s lay the foundation for Avenue Q. You won’t like the show if you dislike any of the following things: racism, cheese, expletives, crudity, lewdness, Gary Coleman, and the compulsory puppet sex.

You may be wondering how a show revolving around puppets could possibly feature all those sorts of things, and in many ways, it’s actually rather difficult to even describe the plot of Avenue Q. Suffice to say, a newly graduated student with a degree in English moves into a new street filled with pretty unusual neighbours, and attempts to discover the purpose to his life.

Saying any more than that would spoil the fun, and believe me, there is a whole lot of fun to be had in Avenue Q. Having seen the show before in London, I had high hopes and expectations, and with prior knowledge of what Avenue Q entails, I enjoyed myself even more, and was physically laughing myself off my seat at several points

From its classic songs with brilliant choruses, to the hilarious albeit crude humour that is so markedly “Avenue Q” – you’ll come out of the theatre humming and whistling tunes that will stick with you for days. The careful and detailed prop choice from the lighting hidden in the set (and other places…) to the clever use of the set itself to signify different areas, as well as being combined with the natural feel that the cast give the puppets all adds up to a hugely enjoyable show.

In terms of the cast high praise goes to Rachel Jerram who handles the voice change from Kate to Lucy very well, going from the innocent “monster” to the “slut” with a startling, well portrayed and charismatic shift. Praise also to Matthew Henry for his portrayal of Gary Coleman, who doesn’t have an easy job repeating the typical joke throughout the play, yet manages to keep it fresh enough to the point where it was comic, and not boring.

My main criticism of the show is in the nature of the musical itself and not this production of it, which did a fantastic job. The second act feels somewhat slower than the first, and lacks many of the comical and memorable songs which fill the first half. It does move the story along however, and doesn’t detract from an overall hugely enjoyable experience. Apart from that, sound balancing issues did at times find that the band overshadowed the singers, and the intonation was lacking at certain points - possibly with the attempt at keeping the accent going, but mostly everything was well enunciated.

Avenue Q is a fantastic way to spend your evening, giving you enough laughs to last you weeks and giving you a soundtrack which you’ll no doubt be coming back to sooner rather than later. I’m loathe to give any more detailed description of the show itself, because that only spoils the surprise when it really does happen. I went in with 8 friends who had never seen it before, each of them slightly dubious about what to expect, but by the end of it they were loving it and wishing for more. Avenue Q even manages to leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling at the end, because hey, that’s schadenfreude!

'Avenue Q' is showing at the Cambridge Arts Theatre until the 14th May.