County Entertainment Final
Feb 13, 2023 • General
Theatre by the Lake once again hosted the Cumbria YFC Entertainments’ County Final on Sunday 12th February.
The young farmers and their supporters were delighted to be back at the theatre after a break of 3 years due to covid and lock downs. The auditorium was filled to capacity and the audience were eager to be entertained. Friends, family and supporters were treated to five very different but equally superb performances with young farmers showcasing the very best of their talents.
Wigton YFC were first to take to the stage, with their performance of “Square Eyes” produced by Lesley Pigg, Judith Wilson and Rebecca Dixon. The club had clearly taken on board the judges’ comments from the District round of the competition and brought the stage alive with their comedic skits and cheerful and accomplished dance routines. Philippa Hall as Gail Force the weather forecaster, amused the audience with her weather forecast presented in a variety of British accents. Another shining light in Wigton’s cast was 16 year old Will, who had the audience laughing in the aisles at his Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak impersonations!
Next to tread the boards was Crook YFC, with their production of “Crook Come Dancing” produced by Josie Sanderson. A whole medley of characters paraded their dancing talents before judges Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell. Even a costume malfunction, which caused much hilarity could not dampen this young cast’s spirit and Crook’s performers left the audience in no doubt that they had all enjoyed their time on the stage.
After a false start and a short break caused by a technical hitch, Grayrigg YFC were next up with their performance of “Through the Decades” produced by member Lucy Gibson. Sequences from Grease, Queen, the Spice Girls and the Full Monty kept the audience highly entertained throughout the performance with some stand out and memorable dance performances.
“Motorway Madness” produced by Roger Bainbridge was Sedbergh YFC’s entertainment offering. With another young cast, the club had worked hard to produce a variety of sketches to delight the audience and there were some excellent budding actors taking centre stage in the school outing skit.
The fifth and final entertainment came from Raughton Head YFC with their “Stranger Things” spectacular written, produced and directed by Daniel Stamper, Graham Holliday, Nicola Wilkinson – Buckle and Lucy Thomas. Following on from their success at the district round, the cast gave a highly polished performance which included a skit involving the devil, played by a fiendish Euan Bulman and a clairvoyant with dubious talents played by Phil Potts.
As the judges began their deliberations a short interval was followed by a raffle and Mrs Pat Bell called the Friends of Cumbria YFC draw.
Finally, after much anticipation the judges, Mr Denis Lumley and Miss Sophie Brooksbank took to the stage to announce the results. After commenting individually on the performances and giving some very positive and helpful feedback the judges announced the following results:
- Best Junior Female Performer: Neve (Raughton Head YFC)
- Best Junior Male Performer: Callum (Crook YFC)
- Best Male Performer: Robbie Tuer (Raughton Head YFC)
- Best Female Performer: Lucy Gibson (Grayrigg YFC)
First place went to Raughton Head YFC for their performance, with Wigton YFC placed second and Grayrigg YFC taking third place. Crook and Sedbergh YFCs were both Highly Commended. All three entries will next compete at the Northern Area Weekend on the 18th March hosted by East Riding YFC.
