The Vicar of Dibley

With few seats left available, there was a genuine air of excitement from the growing crowd seated in the hall waiting to see this stage production of the popular TV sitcom. It was indeed, a heartwarming and joyous evening of entertainment, with gentle humour and much laughter in this solid performance, of the adaptation, where famous (and quite diverse) characters were mimicked; and where the audience were drawn in to feel part of the congregation and instinctively joined in singing the hymn, “Bread of heaven.”

The director, Sarah Aldridge, merged different episodes for the stage production and chose well, including ‘ The Arrival,’ The  Easter Bunny,’ and “ The Engagement/Wedding.’

 It began with the arrival of female vicar, Geraldine (Sarah Aldridge), who arrived in a sleepy village, whose occupants were expecting a male vicar. This was much to the annoyance of some members of the Parish Council, in particular, the selfish ‘stick in the mud’ Chairman, David ( Joe Dudley).Also recognisable are the parish councillors, Hugo, David’s son played by Ben Savage; Mrs Cropley (Debbie Ward);Frank  (Graham Lockey);Owen (Steve Poole);and Jim , played by Mac Hammond, who got Jim’s dialect just right; and Alice who played  Caroline Tinker, the verger, who deserves credit for perfecting the,’ I can’t believe it’s not butter scene’. Geraldine won them over eventually and spent most of the time dealing with crazy happenings in the village on a day-to-day basis. She really cared about the church and helping people; a ‘cool vicar’. She tolerated Alice even when she talked rubbish and didn’t understand her jokes.

Sarah Aldridge’s set design was quite complex, with the stage spilt into three areas, with the vicar’s sitting room on one side, a small kitchen area on the opposite side of the stage and a parish meeting room somewhere in the middle. The stained ‘glass,’ window feature was impressive, its design and construction attributed to Debbie Ward and Phil Ward. Sarah’s overall staging was thoughtfully created, for whilst this is relatively a small stage and the cast was quite large, with quite a bit of furniture in place, scenes did not seem cramped and enabled slick changes ( and there were many) ensuring the story moved along effectively. Lighting and Sound effects were all appropriate, though there was occasional delay in lighting going up or down as scenes commenced or concluded. Melanie Lockey is to be congratulated for wardrobe. Every costume was befitting of the characters they adorned;( including Geraldine’s hand knit jumper knit especially for the show) but it was Alice’s wedding dress, hand sewn by Melanie that was worthy of mention because it was suitably eye catching and dazzling, not forgetting the Telly tubbies outfits!

This was a large cast that gelled well together, and so appropriately selected for their roles. Each character had their own moment of hilarity, but it was Geraldine, who held the whole play, performed by Sarah with warmth and humility. She led the role well, a larger-than-life personality; her characterisation, reflected in facial expressions and voice tone, successfully bringing out the fun, with her hilarious asides with dippy Alice, but also showing her caring side. Her black bob wig also helped to present an uncanny likeness to Dawn French. Joe Dudley was perfect as the cantankerous David. He gave a solid performance in role as the bombastic, privileged Chairman, and father to son Hugo, assertive and lordly in his stance using no nonsense body language and voice tone. Characteristically pedantic Frank, was played with understated humour by Graeme Lockey, meticulously taking minutes at the parish council meeting table alongside the ‘no no no no yes,’ bumbling Jim Trott characterized brilliantly by Mac Hammond. The role of challenged cook, Mrs Cropley, was adopted convincingly by Debbie Ward and Steve Poole was equally amusing as Owen Newitt, the farmer obsessed with bowel movement. The role of Hugo was superbly portrayed by Ben Savage who seemed to be very childlike and suitably bashful in his behaviour and expressions, both vocally and physically. The onstage chemistry with Alice, played by Caroline Rabone was hilarious, as was their first kiss which seemed to last forever. Caroline captured every little nuance of ‘Alice,’ her stupidity and quizzical expressions well portrayed; her performance spirited and energetic. She swung her body as she moved, stomped like a child with flat feet as she walked and nodded her head enthusiastically when expressing herself. Caroline maintained her characterisation faultlessly for the entire performance. Thanks too, goes to Brigitte Brown for her supporting roles.

This play was skilfully presented and well-rehearsed. The audience was most appreciative, for it was an enjoyable performance. Congratulations to Sarah and the rest of the cast and crew. Thank you for inviting me.

 

 

 

 

 

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