The Vicar of Dibley

A relative newcomer to the ranks of the lamentable list of TV sit-com stage adaptations, ‘The Vicar of Dibley’ has certainly been doing the rounds lately in the North West and must therefore be a popular choice for societies and audiences alike. The show was created by Richard Curtis as a vehicle for Dawn French to make light of the resistance to the then controversial idea of female clergy and is set very firmly in the cosy ‘Curtis Land’ familiar from his cinema work: a vision of England which is distinctively his own. The comical cast of characters on Dibley parish council range from the tedious to the bizarre and the mixture of comical goings-on from various episodes was given a decent representation on stage. One of the many problems which arise in putting a TV sit-com on stage is the quandary of how to turn a discrete half hour tale - one which has its own beginning, middle and end and is all wrapped up in under 30 minutes - into a satisfying evening at the theatre. In contrast, the option of trying to explore a series-long story arc, squeezing the slow burning development of various strands of plot, character and any deeper thematic consideration into the two hours’ traffic of our stage, is also impossible. The resulting festival of fun is therefore nearly always a ‘greatest hits’ package where our favourite episodes are reheated and presented, live on stage, for our edification - and so it was here... almost. ‘The Vicar of Dibley’ has the distinct advantage over other sit-com adaptations in being able to take a grab bag approach, knitting different scenes rather than entire episodes together in order to fashion something relatively new and different. And so it was here; Blackburn Drama Club opting to go with the smartly packaged script from Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter which brings together a number of vaguely chucklesome moments from across the series, starting with Geraldine’s arrival and culminating with Hugo and Alice’s wedding. The talented team at Blackburn Drama Club were thus poised to make merry, taking us on a jolly trip down memory lane and breathe life into the gang of much loved characters from Dibley. 

The first thing to note as the curtains opened was the Drama Club’s winning way with set design. Splitting the stage into the Vicarage and the Parish Hall - with the Vestry popping out downstage right on the Empire’s stage - meant that the lighting team could switch quickly from scene to scene without the need for lengthy changes. Well dressed and providing a thoroughly appropriate playing space, the staging was a triumph of well conceived simplicity. 

As the befuddled parish council meet to prepare for the arrival of their new vicar, we are reminded of the range of broadly drawn characters on display. Tyrannical snob David Horton; his dim-witted son Hugo; finicky Frank Pickle; befuddled Jim - the chap who says ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no...yes’ - Trott; earthy Owen Newitt (he of the graphically detailed digestive disasters); dotty pensioner Letitia with her avant garde cookery choices and last but certainly not least, Alice Tinker, the dimmer than dim verger. Given that these thinly drawn and inconsequential characters - despite being little other than a collection of pantomime tics and catchphrases - are lodged in the minds of the TV viewer as being performed in a particular way, it’s always interesting to see what a talented cast can make of them and if possible, to add a little spark of life and put flesh on the bones of these cardboard cut-out characters. 

Very much at the centre of the goings-on in Dibley, new vicar Geraldine Granger was played with a wonderfully down to earth charm by Kate Roberts. Very much the still centre of the storm of nonsense swirling around Dibley, Kate brought a fresh take on the role which was was most appreciated. Andrew Smith was as supercilious as was necessary for the part of haughty leader of the council, David Horton, while at the same time managing to bring out something of the softer side of the character when necessary which was a nice bonus. Trevor Lord was a treat as Jim Trott and did the pleasantly unthinkable in making the character a comical turn who didn’t have to rely on the dismal one-note character trait of saying ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no.... yes’ (this is grindingly unfunny when seen/heard once or twice per episode on TV - over two hours in the theatre, it’s worse than water torture) for which he is to be congratulated. Fussy Frank Pickle was a soapy smooth pedant in the hands of Clive Stack who again, managed to rise above the paper thin material on offer and if Martin Cottam wasn’t quite as loud and overbearing as I would have liked as Owen Newitt, he nevertheless made his bid for romance with the reluctant Reverend one of the highlights of the show for me: the filthy elbow length farmer’s glove was an inspired touch too. Barbara Chadwick brought a touch of class to the role of Letitia and roamed the stage with a poise and elegance which was well suited to her airy detachment to proceedings. 

It was when we arrived at the romantic pairing of Hugo and Alice that - in terms of dramatic push and interesting characterisation - the most interesting work of the evening was done, as Paddy Walsh and Neely Jillings very nearly managed to spin straw into gold with their version of the dozy lovebirds. Paddy’s flustered twitching as the bemused man-boy Hugo was a masterclass in delivering a fully realised character to the stage; Neely Jillings brought a wonderful version of the role of Alice Tinker into the world, making her a loveable fool rather than just the hideous two-dimensional grotesque from the TV sitcom. Both performers brought enough of the familiar to their roles and added an extra sparkle, which was just the ticket. Alice became so much more than the thicker-than-frozen-custard butt of everyone else’s jokes in Neely’s hands and transformed into a warm and rounded character instead. By the same token, we were also spared too many deadening chats in the Vestry between Geraldine and Alice. 

Technically, the show worked like clockwork and the difficulties in switching from scene to scene - one of the potentially hazardous drawbacks of presenting television shows on stage - actually worked in the show’s favour: the musical choices interpolated to cover up costume changes had clearly been chosen with some thought by director Jonathan Mallinson and were a lovely extra touch. The audience was also able to take some pleasure in the quotidian business of stage  setting and costuming rather than just have to wait for whichever banal bit of script happened to be coming along next. The Empire’s sound and lighting boys also made the show look and sound the part very well. Careful consideration of making sure the piece stayed true to its 1990s setting was very much in evidence, from costumes to props, which helped things along too. 

The play culminates in a deliriously silly wedding - full marks to Abigail Birney, Darcy Tayler, Robert Bargh and Xander Quirk for keeping straight faces here! - which was done very well and was handled to perfection. In the final analysis, there was an effective enough mixture of the familiar TV tropes to keep diehard fans happy, along with a nice extra dash of novelty brought to the material to keep it fresh. My thanks go to all at BDC for your kind invitation, wonderful hospitality and a very pleasant evening in the presence of live entertainment which had been brought to the stage with some thought, care and attention.

 

 

 

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