A TECHNICOLOUR journey through imagination has been brought vividly to life by an energetic group of mid Cheshire youngsters.

Mid Cheshire Youth Theatre's latest production of Seussical at the Harlequin Theatre saw a cast of more than 30 children and teenagers leading their audience through the wacky world of children's writer Dr Seuss.

This was no mean feat as the complicated story featured an elephant in a tree, an underwater journey, a bird determined to grow a bigger tail and the inhabitants of the tiniest planet in the sky.

We were guided through this madcap tale by the irrepressible Cat in the Hat, played by 15-year-old Emily Hopkins.

Her slick and confident performance, sprinkled with mischief, was a joy to watch and as an audience you knew you were in safe hands.

Horton the Elephant was played by Alex Williams, 15, whose genuine and feeling performance conveyed the character's thoughtfulness and good heart as he was ridiculed for being the only one who could hear the tiny people of Who on their miniature planet.

Ben Wallace played Jojo, our lead character on the Planet of Who.

A boy whose 'thinks' take him to all kinds of places, and get him into plenty of trouble, Jojo's wonder and innocence were captured by Ben, whose unexpectedly remarkable singing voice was perfect in the duet 'Alone in the Universe' with Horton.

Caitlin Sherwood, 16, took on the humorous role of Gertrude McFuzz, the bird with the one feather tail who just wants to be noticed by Horton.

Her performance was extraordinarily confident, perfectly combining the tricky trio of acting, singing and nailed-on comedy in each of her songs.

Mention must also be made of 15-year-old Lauren Robinson who really owned the stage with her performance full of sass and attitude as Sour Kangaroo.

There are too many performers to go through each one but the competence of this large and young cast was staggering as they made their way through complex song and dance numbers, with some gymnastics thrown in too.

There were occasional projection issues at points where I was straining to hear odd lines and words in some of the songs but these stood out more because it was such a professional production on the whole.

It was easy to forget how young this company is.

Music, costumes, set and lighting were all perfect for this bright and colourful show which was delivered with an infectious sense of fun.

It was a crazy, feel good show that ensured everyone was left with a smile on their face.