Life certainly was a Cabaret for Ulverston Outsiders, whose production of the musical play was voted the best musical in the Cumbria County Council drama awards in 1994.

The group would be presented with the Francis and Frieda Scott Memorial Trophy and a cheque for £100 for its first attempt at a musical.

Director Ann Hopper said: “We are thrilled to bits to have won.

“The show was a tremendous challenge for us because we are really a dramatic society and a small company, but it worked extremely well, better than we dared to hope it would.”

It was the second time they had won a trophy in the competition. Three years previously the group was given an award for its production of The Miracle Worker and it had been highly commended no less than four times.

Cumbria Youth Theatre, who were putting the final touches to Our Day Out by Willie Russell, had also been highly commended for their last annual production, The Match Girls.

This award was made in the Cumbria Drama Trophy category to acknowledge an outstanding contribution to drama within Cumbria.

Brewery Arts Centre director Anne Pierson, who was co-director of the Youth Theatre, said: “It is the first time we have entered them for the award and the youngsters are delighted. A few from last year are rehearsing at the moment and it has obviously given them a special boost.”

She believed the group was the only one of its kind in the county.

“The award was made for a contribution to drama and apart from the quality of the performance, this is a unique project in Cumbria, involving youngsters from every part of the county. And that must be making a real contribution to drama,” she said.

The Cumbria Drama Trophy and a cheque for £100 were awarded to Thursby Players for a performance of The Outside Edge and Barrow Amateur Operatic Society was highly commended in the musical category for its production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

St Anne’s School, Windermere, was highly commended for a performance of The Mikado.