"Shrek The Musical Jr" by The Young Performers.

The Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Once upon a time, in a far away swamp, there lived an ogre named Shrek. One day, Shrek finds his swamp invaded by banished fairytale misfits who have been cast off by Lord Farquaad, a tiny terror with big ambitions. When Shrek sets off with a wisecracking donkey to confront Farquaad, he's handed a task – if he rescues feisty princess Fiona, his swamp will be righted. Shrek tries to win Fiona’s love and vanquish Lord Farquaad, but a fairytale wouldn't be complete without a few twists and turns along the way, now would it?

Shrek is played by Will Mellor, who masters the Scottish accent really well and is consistent in the Scottish brogue. With that green make up, skullcap and the padded out costume, I imagine that Will, will have been pretty warm on stage. Needless to say, this is a performance I will remember for a long while, especially the farting and burping scene for "I Think I Got You Beat", which has always been one of my favourite scenes. Both Will and Neve's timing for this scene was absolutely spot on. Will is building a very reputable theatrical CV and, as Shrek, put a smile on my face.

Princess Fiona is played by Neve Johnson with Young Fiona played by Lottie Ellis and Teen Fiona played by Isobel Pickering. With that red wig, all three Fionas actually look very similar, and their voices merge really well.

Donkey is played by one of my favourite, young comedy actors, Finlay Tomlinson. Over the last five years I've seen Finlay in several shows and he seems to be the "go to" actor for comedy parts as he corners this market brilliantly.

Lord Farquaad is played by Alex Povey. This role calls for an actor with brilliant comedy skills, both physically as well as visually, and Alex is perfectly cast. He didn't short change us with his performance.

The Dragon was operated by Lucy Coulson-Jones who also provided vocals for the Dragon with the cutest eyebrows I've seen on a dragon! Operating a puppet, as well as voicing and synchronising both is no easy job, and I reckon, by the end of this week, Lucy is going to be brilliant as a puppeteer/actor, and another skill to pop on her CV.

Lexi-Mae Hart plays Pinocchio, complete with suitable appendage and voice.

Violet Graney plays Gingy - The Gingerbread Man. Here's another puppetry role, and like Lucy, succeeded in directing our attention towards the puppet character and not the actor.

"Shrek" is a musical that requires a large cast, which is perfect for a theatre group like The Young Performers as it provides roles for so many, so let's mention them......

Jess Henshaw, Carly Gaunt, Keeley Rickerby, Lucie Artiss, Ella Charlesworth, Olivia Monk, Amelia Forecast, William Hamilton, Millie Weston, MJ McEwan, Hattie McEwan, Livvy McEwan, Lewis McDowall, Fin Boswell, Dillan Brookes, Theo Brewer, Summer McNorton, Emily Wilkins, Isabella Frampton, Sophie Longcroft, Emily-Mae Turner, Clarissa Armitage, AJ Chamberlain, Remy-Mae Read, Sophie Dexter, Emmie Simmons, James Pedrick, Livvy Read, Molly Price and Heidi Parsons.

Directed by Zak Charlesworth, who has been involved in theatre, whether it be as Director or performer for the last forty odd years - well it seems that long because he has done so much and has been involved in so many successful productions; this being yet another one.

George Parkinson is the Musical Director, another star who, like Zak, has been around for many years and, also like Zak, is far too young to be as talented as he is.

Choreographed by Ellie Simmonds, who I chatted to before the show, and I'm not going to say what she told me, but you undersell your talents Ms Simmonds!! The choreography was wonderful throughout, and the final scene which included everyone was brilliantly energetic and fun and every young actor smashed the "I'm A Believer" choreography, all of them looking like they'd had the best time. And they get to relive that best time all the way up to Saturday night.

The Young Performers have also used young techies for this show, who've been trained in all areas of the technical side of theatre. The programme does not name these young men and women, who can make or break a show with the technical operation. That's a shame because on Thursday night, the night I attended, they did a brilliant job. The Lighting Design is by Dave Martin and the Sound Design by Harvey Tavener.

The Set Design is by Roydon Charlesworth.

Because there are so many young actors filling so many fairy-tale character roles, the costumes are very important. The Wicked Witch, Mama and Papa Ogre, Pinocchio, The Three Bears, the brilliant Three Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf, the list goes on and on, through to the principal role costumes, each and every one was just marvellous, thanks to Spotlight Costumes.

Make a move to see this big, bright, beautiful musical because I believe that you'll make these Young Performers' dreams come true by allowing them to fly their freak flag, forever. A lovely story about being who you are and being happy with who you are.

"Shrek The Musical Jr" is at The Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 20 January.