All eyes on Longford Backstage Youth Theatre's upcoming Peter Panto extravaganza

Peter Pan is having a bad day. First of all, he loses his Shadow and with it his ability to fly. Then, one by one, he manages to turn all his friends against him. Now that Peter’s alone, Captain Hook spies a chance to finally get his revenge.

Peter Panto sees Backstage Youth Theatre (BYT) mark 20 years of involvement in local pantomime. In those two decades the group nurtured the talents of a remarkable number of young actors.

Peter Panto was written by four BYT members, Aileen Gordon (playing Tinkerbell), Eliza Pearman Howard (Captain Hook), Matylda Wijas (Shadow) and Setanta Flood under the mentorship of Brendan Williams. It's a tale you won’t find in the story books.

Director Paul Higgins explained: “BYT joined with the senior group Backstage Theatre Group (BTG) in 2003 when we performed Aladdin. I had the honour of playing Widow Twankey. Over the next few years BYT became more and more involved and in 2011 the panto was 100% BYT. Our first solo panto, The Wizard of Longford, was written by BYT leader Brendan Williams. Since then all the BYT pantos have been written by Brendan or the members of the group.”

Every year the panto has built on the madcap brilliance of previous productions. The emphasis is as always on audience engagement. This year's show reveals the depth of talent in the group as every aspect of the production from writing to performing is brought to bear in the show.

Group Chair, Joanna Pearman, spoke of the vital role the panto has played in the development of acting talent in Longford: “Pantomime is such a fun family experience; it's a perfect introduction to visiting the theatre for children and families. Seeing local faces they know, up on the stage and being able to actively engage with plenty of audience participation – and watch out for the water guns!”

Script writer Aileen Gordon loved the process: “Writing Peter Panto has been a remarkable experience and was a great way to develop our writing skills. It allowed us to explore new genres of writing. It's so exciting to see our ideas amalgamated into the script.”

Matylda Wijas agreed: “This was a new experience for us, but the writing came naturally. It's great seeing the progress we made throughout the process.”

For actor Róisín Duke, who plays Smee, this is a great opportunity: “I joined BYT earlier in the year. Since then, I have participated in many workshops and the experience has been so amazing. I’ve loved it so much. We are all currently rehearsing very hard for Peter Panto.”

Peter Panto commences on Friday January 20, and Friday, January 27 at 7pm and on Saturday January 21, Sunday January 22 and Saturday January 28 at 3pm.