Slice of Life is top YF
Slice of Life is top YF
show but flashers
were full monty
BEEF on the bone is safe: The message was borne around Torquay on the back of many a YFC sweatshirt during the NFYFC annual convention and displayed on stage Full Monty style.
At that point it was greeted with a round of cheering and laughter as the mac-flapping flashers in Llysyfran YFCs production of Dream America revealed their all – well, almost. The message was strategically shared between them.
The Pembrokeshire club was representing Wales in the final of the NFU Mutual entertainment competition at the Princess Theatre. The judges described Dream America as "a very striking production altogether". Their comment on the men in macs scene was "it didnt have anything to do with everything else – but, my God, we did enjoy it!" And they put the production in third place.
Cornwalls hunky beef farmers diversified into a bit of stripping to keep the wolf from the door during a slick helping of tomfoolery, song and dance that was their county federations production. Entitled This Slice of Life, it was the entertainment that won the cup.
It was a very good vehicle for the cast, said the judges, and there was a great underlying discipline. Action centred around a skeletal staircase that was slid around to accommodate the activities of an 80-strong team.
Whitley Chapel YFCs presentation, Just Imagine, featured a toy room of the 90s where toys, which include Ken and Barbie dolls, compete with computer games for childrens attention. The story was brought to life by two characters called Imagination played by Craig Nesbitt and Angela Symm who received the most promising actor and actress awards. "Excellent work, high on presentation, on effects and costume but a little lacking in substance," said the judges who put Just Imagine in second place.
Herefordshires Golden Valley YFC rose to the challenge of opening up the afternoons programme with Too Good to be True, a tale of a false gold rush. The story is set "in the near future. Farming is suffering a deep depression and rural life has come to a standstill." But, with a bit of help from the EU, things came right in the end and the audience was much amused.
"Lively attack, excellent continuity well sustained, good sense of team work," commented the judges.
Raughton Head YFC, Cumbria, worked a good Over Thirty Months Scheme skit into An American Tale. It had nothing to do with the story in which Jeremiah the old Testament prophet, explained his role in the making of USA history, but was well received nonetheless.
"An interesting idea, well developed, a little low key but very sincere," said the judges.
Ann Rogers
The men with the message in Llysyfrans production, Dream America, were shy about revealing it for a while but eventually flashed it up for all to see.
The Cornwall federation pooled talent
from across the clubs to
present This Slice of Life.
Left: Golden Valley YFC
opened the afternoons programme. Above: Cornwalls beef farmers strike a pose.
Results of other national
competition finals:
Written pub quiz 1 Oxon,
2 Lancs, 3 Leics .
Mens 7 a-side hockey
1 Dorset, 2 Notts, 3 Staffs.
Ten pin bowling 1 Essex,
2 Yorks A, 3 Somerset.
Swimming 1 Staffs, 2 Yorks A, 3 Leics.
Ladies indoor 7 a-side
football 1 Lancs, 2 Norfolk, equal 3 Eryri and Yorks C.