The Vicar of Dibley

The Vicar of Dibley was a great choice for the festive season. The play features two of the most memorable Christmas episodes where the Vicar goes from parishioner to parishioner for Christmas lunch and the nativity takes on a lifelike twist when Alice Tinker gives birth. Doing such a well known and well loved TV programme as a stage show does mean that people are expecting impressions of the actors who originated the roles. In large part, the cast did just that and did it extremely well.

Alice Tinker was glorious, with the mannerisms and voice of the original spot on. This was an excellent performance with great comic timing and capturing the character’s innate goofiness and gormlessness brilliantly. Her mother, Mrs Tinker, also managed a great performance with only three repeated lines done to great comic effect and Mary was very sweet as Alice’s even more dippy sister, complete with bunny ears.

Hugo Horton had the perfect physicality, lolloping around like an overgrown school boy with that upper class charm and good humour. David Horton was also excellent at playing the upper-class serious role, with an obvious soft spot for the Vicar. Jim was difficult to hear at first but by the second half had really come into his stride and put in a first class and very funny performance. Owen was very good at mimicking the undulating voice of the original character and delivered his hilarious one liners with relish. The unassuming and pedantic Frank Pickle also lived up to expectations.

Geraldine Grainger has perhaps the hardest job of all, as her character isn’t quite as defined as the rest. However, this was a very believable portrayal of the slightly unorthodox Vicar who has a heart of gold but a wickedly dry sense of humour. Her moments with Alice where she tells a joke were particularly well done, as was her exasperation but obvious affection for her daft Verger. Her good humour and affection for her parishioners shone through and she gave a well rounded and entertaining portrayal throughout.

This was a very accomplished performance that was well directed and full of laugh out loud moments. The set was very effective and detailed with a few changes to turn it from an Easter setting at the start to Christmas by the end. The stage crew did an excellent job with some quite complex set changes, especially during the Christmas lunch scenes. However, the music and lighting cues could perhaps have been a bit shorter so that the next scene could start as soon as the set had been changed.  At times, the resulting gaps interrupted the flow of the narrative, which was a shame. Costumes were very good, especially Elvis, and the children were delightful. The ‘home movies’ of Hugh and Alice’s wedding projected on a cloth in front of the stage as people took their seats was a great idea and really set the scene for the action that was to follow.

All in all, this was a well delivered and very fun play. The perfect pre-Christmas treat. 

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