County Final of the Pantomime

Feb 15, 2025  •  General

 County Panto Final

 

Theatre By The Lake once again hosted the Cumbria YFC Pantomime County Final on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th February. With an auditorium filled with supporters of the performing clubs, those gathered were treated to four fantastic performances with young farmers showcasing the very best of their talents. 

 

Saturday 15th February saw Crook YFC’s performance of “Love on the Farmyard", written by Amy Wood and directed and produced by Matthew Wright and Amy Wood. 

 

The cast performed a fun-packed panto, complete with dancing sheep, talking cows and an over-bearing pantomime Dame in the shape of Farmer Sandra, played with great gusto by Callum. 

 

Maisie’s pantomime baddy, Hugh had the audience booing, hissing and ultimately cheering when he got his well-deserved come-uppance. True love conquered all however, with George and Matilda declaring their true love and Daisy and Buttercup the talking cows reunited and everyone living happily ever after on the farm. 

 

The audience particularly loved Crook YFC’s Dirty Dancing moment, with Farmer Sandra aka Callum making the Dirty Dancing lift that took Patrick Swayzee months to master look easy! 

 

Next to take to the stage was Sedbergh YFC with their pantomime “Cinderfella”, written and directed by Roger Bainbridge.  This new take on a traditional pantomime was brought to life by a very enthusiastic cast and had the whole audience singing along in their seats! 

 

The audience delighted in cheering on Cinderfella, Ed Wilson and when the clock struck midnight and all that remained of him was a very smelly welly, it was time for Princess Rose and Dandini played by Georgia Hunter and Lizzie Bainbridge respectively to travel the land to undertake the ultimate “sniff- test”.

 

When Princess Rose finally took a sniff of Cinderfella’s sock and declared that she had found her true love the whole audience cheered and the panto was brought to an energetic and rousing close. 

 

Sunday night saw the final 2 pantomimes take to the stage with Grayrigg YFC first on with their production of “Cinderella” directed and produced by Lucy Gibson. A traditional pantomime with an all-singing dancing cast, Luke Askew and Patrick Galbraith’s ugly step-sisters entertained the audience with their less than melodic singing and slapstick antics. 

 

 

Cinderella’s life of drudgery took a dramatic turn for the better when Fairy Godmother, Lucy Gibson intervened and ensured that she could attend the ball in fine style with a beautiful dress and a pantomime horse providing the transport. 

 

Following the ball and the obligatory lost slipper, Cinderella played by Elisha and Harry Harper’s Prince Charming were reunited and the cast brought the pantomime to a close with a well-choreographed dance routine that had the audience singing and clapping along. 

 

The final pantomime of the competition was Kent Estuary YFC’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” directed and produced by Tanya Park. The production opened with Chloe Dawson’s wicked Step-Mother taking centre stage to a chorus of boos and hisses from the audience. The traditional Snow White story was told, with great performances from Becky Denney as the Mirror, Eve Bland as Fairy Artichoke and Becca Ridding as Snow white. 

 

Luke Robinson and Chris Calder as Tyler and Tyson gave a whole new meaning to the term “street style” dressed in famous brand sportswear from head to toe and showing very accomplished rapping skills! 

 

Kent Estuary’s cast included some very young members who gave their all to their singing and dancing as servants and dwarfs and this traditional pantomime was a great success with the audience. 

 

As the weekend drew to a close, judges, Mr Tom Redmayne and Mr Dan Stamper had their work cut out judging the performances. After much deliberation, first place was awarded to Grayrigg YFC. Kent Estuary YFC took second place, Sedbergh YFC came third and Crook YFC came fourth. 

 

Special awards were given as follows: 

 

Best Performance for a Member Who is 17 and Under: Callum, Crook YFC

Best Performance in a Lead Role: Lucy Gibson, Grayrigg YFC

Best Performance in a Supporting Role: Luke Askew and Patrick Galbraith, Grayrigg 

                                                                        YFC’s 

Best Moment in the Theatre: The Dirty Dancing Moment from Crook YFC

The top 3 clubs now go forward to the Northern Area Weekend, hosted by Lancashire YFC on the 15th and 16th March.