THE Theatre Royal welcomes one of its biggest shows of the summer when smash hit comedy Avenue Q arrives in town next week (Monday, July 21).

The coming of age satire, based on the much loved Sesame Street, features puppets and puppeteers and human actors.

The production – which producers say is suitable for those aged 14 and over - is on a 10-week tour and is at St Helens until Wednesday, July 23. It tells the tale of recent college graduate Princeton moves to Avenue Q filled with hopes and dreams and in search of his purpose. What he finds is Gary Coleman fixing the toilets, girl next door Kate Monster and her unfulfilled dreams for a Monsterssori school, internet sexpert Trekkie Monster and closet gay Republican Rod.

Avenue Q first appeared in 2003 at the Off-Broadway theatre the Vineyard before transferring to Broadway later that year.

It won the Tony for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. Cameron Mackintosh produced it in the West End in 2006, where it ran for five years before touring, and has appeared in more than ten countries all over the world.

Artistic director David Hutchinson, of the Sell a Door Theatre Company, said: “I have every faith that this parable, which so cleverly pokes fun at the issues young people face going into adulthood, will strike a chord with audiences up and down the country.”