NEVER meant to be a stage musical, merely a TV spin-off from The Muppets, this show proved one of the longest-running on Broadway and won its American creators countless awards.

Refreshing, witty and thoroughly entertaining, its appeal lies in cute and colourful puppets voicing subversive ideas and sometimes displaying rude actions, which become so real one almost ceases to see the human handlers.

This is a UK production with a British cast, but the message emerging out of downtown Manhattan mishap and mistakes stems from Big Apple aspiration.

The modern-day parable addresses issues such as racism, being gay, drunkenness and internet porn, while the underlying theme, expressed by new graduate puppet Princeton’s opening song, Life Sucks, is that growing up believing the world’s your oyster – or, in American parlance, that you can have it all – is a con.

The reality is a crummy apartment, little money and not much by way of prospects. In this song as in others, downbeat lyrics are conveyed in an upbeat children’s TV-style tempo which makes it delightfully funny. There is beauty in ballads and laments that touch the heart, and an ultimately uplifting moral message about the true purpose of life.

The wonderfully crafted puppets, with their all-too-recognisable traits and characteristics, are the stars, with three actors in supporting roles, while the set is full of visual surprises that add to the delight.

Unforgettably outrageous and hilarious are Lucy the Slut, a raunchy cross between Miss Piggy and Mai West, and deep throated, dirty-minded Tricky Monster with his predilection for porn, while the wild coupling between Princeton and Kate Monster is the most explicit sex scene ever on this stage.

Full credit to the puppet handlers who have perfected their characters’ actions and voices and to the rest of the cast. The show is a joy.

Pru Farrier