Welcome to EVP

Panto season! Rapunzel was fully sold out with a waiting list and we couldn't be more proud of the cast, crew and helpers that helped put it together. The feedback from the audience was amazing!

Santa's Grotto was also a success and a great community event which tied in nicely to Lazonby's overall Christmas celebration and parade that weekend.

EVP were invited back to Lazonby Co-Op to decorate the shop windows with a display to celebrate Christmas and advertise our Rapunzel Pantomime. See the windows on our Facebook post.

We ran a Race Night event with The Midland to raise over £500 for the Brain Tumour Research charity. This was a fantastic achievement for an amazing cause.

The EVP workshop with the cast and EVP Juniors was well attended. This was our first time running a workshop type event and it was a great addition to the usual Pantomime rehearsals.

Rehearsals for Rapunzel are underway!!

EVP picked up the baton of running the Lazonby car boot sale. This was our first time hosting a car boot sale and it was great to see such a good turn out and support. There were over 50 stalls and hundreds of visitors! Of course, a huge thank you to Harrison & Hetherington for their kind permission to use the Auction Mart.

We held the annual Pantomime kick off meeting at the end of June with auditions in July. This year's panto will be Rapunzel and there was a great turnout and we were delighted with the talent shown at the auditions. It's amazing to see so many new faces. The outcome was announced on Facebook and can be viewed here.

Our annual quiet time before we're back into things for Panto season! We're working on things in the background, so keep an eye out for events!

We worked with The Midland to put on an 80th Anniversary of VE Day event with period music & a quiz. 

What would normally be a busy time for EVP preparing for the spring play, due to the unfortunate circumstances leading to us postponing Vicar of Dibley, EVP are taking the opportunity for some quiet time to prepare for our first Lazonby Car Boot Sale.

We started off March with an excellent turnout at the Race Night in aid of the Lazonby Swimming Pool 60th Year Refurbishment. We were thrilled to have filled the hall in support of our local swimming pool. The fundraiser was a real community get together with EVP managing the event, the Pool organising the raffle, the Village Hall providing the bar and waiving rental charges, and All4Fun (a Carlisle based company) running the races.

EVP held it's AGM in Lazonby School Hall. See the full minutes. 

• T. Wright read the Chair's report reviewing the past year, and the events scheduled for the year to come and N. Dinham read the Treasurer's Report.

• A new management committee was elected. 

  • The existing committee was re-elected with the exception of A. Bates and E. Watson who has stood down.

  • N. Dinham stood down from position of treasurer but remains a committee member.

  • 2 new committee members were elected: K. Chappel, and our first Juniors Rep J. Chappel.

It is with great difficulty we have made the decision to postpone year's spring play "The Vicar of Dibley" due to the unfortunate event of a main cast member sustaining a serious injury while out walking. Any tickets purchased have been refunded in full and we will perform this exceedingly funny play, based on the iconic TV sitcom, in April 2026. We hope you will book tickets for the new dates when they become available.

Rehearsals have started on Vicar of Dibley. Tickets on sale now!

Plans starting to be formed for the coming year - Car Boot Sale, EVP Juniors, Santa's Grotto and of course the 2025 Christmas Panto!

Panto season! Mother Goose was fully sold out with a waiting list and we couldn't be more proud of the cast, crew and helpers that helped put it together.

EVP were invited back to Lazonby Co-Op to decorate the shop windows with a display to celebrate Christmas and advertise the Puss in Boots Pantomime. See the windows on our Facebook post.

Our read through for Vicar of Dibley was well attended and we were delighted to cast some new faces for next year's Spring Play.

There was a brilliant turn out for painting the back cloths and set for Mother Goose. Several people came along to help paint and the result looks amazing and can't wait to see it on stage!

Our Halloween Workshop was well attended. See pictures on Facebook.

Rehearsals for Mother Goose get underway.

Focus shifts to Halloween as tickets go on sale for EVP's second ever Halloween Workshop and the 3rd annual EVP Halloween Ball!

Unfortunately the extra nights for Crimes on Centre Court at Wigton and Brampton didn't go ahead as there wasn't enough advance ticket sales to make the event viable for us. This was a real shame and such a hard decision to make! We hope to come back to these venues in the future!

Crimes on Centre Court is back for 2 more nights! Tickets have gone on sale for EVP's first performance at Brampton Community Centre. 🎾

We held the annual Pantomime kick off meeting at the start of the month and auditions later in the month. This year's panto will be Mother Goose and there was a good turnout and we were delighted with the talent shown at the auditions. The outcome was announced on Facebook and can be viewed here.

A chance for a rest before we're back into things for Panto and Halloween! We're working on things in the background, keep an eye out!

We performed Crimes on Centre Court for two nights at Lazonby Village Hall. The audience described it as "absolutely bonkers" and "couldn't stop laughing".

All hands on deck this month preparing for Crimes on Centre Court!

EVP held its Annual General Meeting at Lazonby Village Hall which was well attended. See the full minutes. 

• T. Wright read the Chair report thanking everyone who has contributed to EVP the last 12 months and noted "EVP has had a very productive and busy year. ... The future of EVP is looking good as we move forward with new members in our ranks along with our fabulous newly formed junior section." 

• N. Johnson read the Treasurer's Report.

• A new management committee was elected. 

  • The existing committee members were re-elected with the welcome addition of A. Bates and G. Baxter. 

  • New named roles were added: Ticket Officer, Safeguarding Officers, and Juniors Representative.

Tickets have gone on sale for Crimes on Centre Court!

Rehearsals have started for this year's Spring play Crimes on Centre Court written by New Old Friends.

We purchased ETCnomad lighting control software. With EVP branching out to perform in more venues throughout 2024, owning our own lighting control software gives us greater flexibility in designing the lighting for shows.

It's Panto time again! Puss in Boots as a joint venture with Penrith Players was a huge success, selling out 5 of the 6 performances. The cast and crew enjoyed putting on the show and the audience were laughing and joining in the Panto fun at all performances.

We announced our next production will be Crimes on Centre Court. A play by the New Old Friends that created Crimes in Egypt which we performed in 2021.

EVP were invited back to Lazonby Co-Op to decorate the shop windows with a display to celebrate Christmas and advertise the Puss in Boots Pantomime. See the windows on our Facebook post.

EVP placed runner-up in the Lakes and Dales Community Connect grant and received £2,000. See our Facebook post.

Our first ever EVP Juniors workshop was well received by parent and child alike. Starting with a 2 day workshop during October Half Term and ending with a performance of the short story our volunteers had created consisting of words and dance which the children performed.

The first Panto rehearsal of 2023 has been and gone. This was a really positive start to panto and we're looking forward to what the remainder will create.

No news to report! Preparations are underway for the Halloween Family Ball and Puss in Boots Panto 2023!

Our Music Festivals Revisited night in Kirkoswald had everyone on the dance floor! While the attendance was less than we were hoping for, the night was thoroughly enjoyed by those who attended.

After some great auditions and a lot of deliberation from the casting committee, we are pleased to announce the named cast of Puss in Boots! See this Facebook post for the announcement.

EVP have been shortlisted for the Lakes and Dales Community Connect grant and are guaranteed to receive at least £2,000 in grant money. The winner of the grant scheme will receive £5,000. To learn more about the scheme and how to cast your vote, click here!

Eden Valley Players performed Last of the Summer Wine to a near sell out on the Friday Night and a complete sell out on the Saturday Night. It was well received by audiences and reviews have been very positive!

We purchased 2 new wireless headset microphone systems to use alongside microphones we hire or borrow for shows, allowing us to amplify the voices of all our actors in Last of the Summer Wine.

Our AGM was well attended. T. Wright read the Chair report covering a very successful year for EVP, N. Johnson read the Treasurer's Report, and a new management committee was elected. See the full minutes. 

• The existing committee was re-elected with the exception of E. Whitehead who has stood down.

• 3 new committee members were elected: E. Watson, R. Hudleston and M. Anthony.

• The new position of Vice Chair was filled by D. Smart.

• R. Hudleston and M. Anthony are to be the Members Floor Representatives. 

Our ticket sales have moved online using TicketSource! This is an exciting enhancement to the ticket buying experience, making it easier for you to buy tickets and easier for us to manage.

We have been successful in applying to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation which will help us in fulfilling our vision of expanding to visit more places in the Eden Valley.