24 young people from across East Lothian have been cast alongside professional actors in Mother Goose, this year’s pantomime at Brunton Theatre. Over 100 young performers from across East Lothian attended open dance auditions on Friday 21 May at Brunton Hall in Musselburgh to join the professional cast.

Mother Goose sees the return of Musselburgh panto favourite Arron Usher starring in his 10^{th Brunton panto and Craig Glover who made his Brunton Theatre debut last year as the dame in Sinbad the Pantomime. Mother Goose is produced by Brunton Theatre, written and directed by Liam Rudden and choreographed by Beth Noble.}

A total of 24 dancers were recruited to form 4 teams of 6 young people who will perform at alternate performances. Successful dancers come from towns across the county: Imogen Allen, Mairi Goodall, Steven Payne, Hannah MacDonald, Keavy Malloy, Elise McFarlane, Beth Slight, Amber Reilly, Janna Smith and Amy Mee from Musselburgh; Georgio Michalakis, Regan Horsburgh and Rebecca Cairney from Port Seton; Kirsty Stevenson, Tiegan McIntyre, Lauren Edmond and Neve Bell from Tranent; Jorja Brady and Alice Murray from Dunbar; Megan Thomas from Ormiston; Morven Warren McArdle from East Linton; Bethan Richards from Oldhamstocks; Euan Henderson from Pencaitland and Lee Dixon from Prestonpans. The successful dancers are in for hard work as they start rehearsals in August, occurring weekly throughout the school term until the pantomime opens on Tuesday 23 November.

Beth Noble, Choreographer said: "We were looking for all-round performers who can dance, act and sing. We saw hundreds of talented young people and the standard was very high indeed. We have now cast 24 young performers from across East Lothian who will take part in the chorus on a rotating basis, and we are all now looking forward to rehearsing from August. This is a great opportunity for the young people to perform alongside professional actors on a professional stage."

Liam Rudden, writer and director said: "The energy and enthusiasm shown by the youngsters never ceases to amaze me when we hold our panto auditions. Every year it becomes more and more difficult to choose the final 24. This year we have some wonderfully talented young people in the company, many of whom I’m sure have a bright future ahead of them. That said, even those who were unlucky this year shouldn’t be too downhearted as there’s always next year."

Tickets for Mother Goose are on sale now from Brunton Theatre Box Office on 0131 665 2240 or online at ^{www.bruntontheatre.co.uk}