The Vicar of Dibley

 

“The Vicar of Dibley” is based on the popular TV series of the same name and was written by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer. This production has been adapted by Dan Wainwright for Irchester Players. The play is set in the imaginary village of Dibley and the action begins with the arrival of their new lady vicar ….

The play was hilariously funny from the off and has been very well-directed by Ali Everitt. The audience was presented with a superb evening’s entertainment.

The cast list was impressive with a great line-up of characters. Sarah Liverton had the unenviable task of playing the iconic role of Geraldine Granger, she did this with great aplomb and should be congratulated on her performance. Kim Hollis was very funny as dopey Alice Tinker and her scenes with the vicar were hilarious. Luke Campbell showed great versatility as a character actor in the role of haughty David Horton as did Dan Wainwright as his bumbling, nervous son, Hugo Horton. The two worked well together and created much laughter. Richard Awdry was excellent in the role of Frank Pickle, the PCC secretary. Bob Mutch, in my opinion, “stole the show” with his brilliant performance as Jim Trot. Marc Whitestone was hilarious as Owen Newitt, his unusual bowel workings caused much laughter throughout the play. Julie Haydon was excellent too in the dual roles of Mrs Tinker and Mrs Cropley. There were great performances too from all the actors in the supporting roles. The Junior Ensemble and Choir and the Adult Choir all played their part in the performance too, the choirs under the musical direction of Richard Awdry added a lovely touch to the play.

Well done to all the cast, you have clearly worked very hard and your combined efforts have produced this brilliantly funny play.

The set was simple but stunning and gave a very professional feel to the play. The props were excellent and very well-made. The costumes were very good and in keeping with the piece. The make-up and hairstyles were very good too. This was visually an excellent production! The lighting and sound quality was very good throughout the performance.

My only criticism was that with more than twenty scenes it was a little disjointed at times, maybe merging some of the shorter scenes would have helped the continuity, but this is just my personal opinion.

Congratulations to everyone at Irchester Players, this was a well-performed, well-paced, hilariously funny and highly entertaining production.

 

CAROLINE JERVIS                                                                                                                                    NODA EAST MIDLANDS DISTRICT 7 REPRESENTATIVE.   

 

 

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