The Vicar of Dibley

There is a huge challenge in staging a version of such a well-known and well-loved television series as The Vicar of Dibley, in that a large part of the audience will be continually comparing what they’re seeing and hearing on stage with the original series. A fine line needs to be trodden between attempting exact impersonations of the on-screen performances, and the on-stage characters not bearing enough resemblance to the originals. SNADS managed this superbly, with the actors delivering performances that were absolutely recognisable as the various Dibley characters, while giving them their some of their own, and/or the Director’s, interpretation. The performances were all excellent and the Direction (John Skinner) was tight and effective, resulting in a thoroughly well-crafted and enjoyable production.

Most of the actors had a very large number of lines to learn and they were, as far as I could tell, word-perfect which was very impressive. Hugo Horton was delightfully naïve, switching brilliantly in one scene from bubbly joviality to running scared of his father. He won the hearts of the audience when he did at last stand up to his father, refusing to by cowed by the threat of being disinherited, and he showed clearly how nervous he was in the presence of Alice while at the same time being extremely keen on her. Alice Tinker was spot-on as the Verger with a heart of gold and her ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter’ routine was given a thoroughly well-deserved round of applause.

While each of them gave brilliant individual performances, the dynamic between Hugo and Alice was central to the production and they delivered it superbly. The exchange in which Alice unwittingly aroused Hugo, climaxing in her putting a chocolaty finger in her mouth, went down very well with the audience and the scene in which they at last kissed, for a long, long time, even after Owen had entered, generated rapturous applause. A testament to how well they acted is that when Geraldine, in frustration at their naïvety, looked heavenwards and said, ‘are you sure you know what you’re doing?’ it rang true.

Geraldine Granger gave a tour-de-force performance, commanding the stage and the action, at the centre of it all, holding together all the various story strands.  Just the right amount of Dawn French was in the mix, as in her delivery of the line at the wedding ‘I know true insanity’, while giving it very much her own individual stamp. A real triumph.

David Horton had an easy, natural  manner and was very convincing as the Chairman of the Parish Council. His taking Geraldine’s hand and asking her, at the end of the play, to stay on in Dibley was a very touching moment. One of the great strengths of this production was, indeed, that it combined so effectively a great deal of comedy with touching and emotional moments, as did the original TV series.

Owen Newitt played rough and uncouth extremely well and, like the others was faithful but not slavish to the original performance from the television series. There were many very funny incidents and scenes in this production and Owen produced some of the funniest, as with his spluttering tea everywhere when Alice said that having tea with Geraldine was boring compared to being with Hugo, when he lunged to kiss Geraldine, and when he proposed to her.           

Frank Pickle did a sterling job of portraying the prim and restrained character and Jim Trott demonstrated pin-point comic timing and really embodied the character, as when he explained how upset Owen would be at Geraldine rejecting his marriage proposal. Letitia Cropley  was nicely understated, make a lovely contrast with the more verbose or demonstrative nature of the other characters.

Well done to the children at the wedding ceremony and the reception afterwards and to the woman (Chris Hawkins) who appeared at the crucial moment in the wedding to stop it, only to find that she had turned up at the wrong wedding. These appearances may have been relatively brief but they were delightful and added to the humour and atmosphere of the whole.

The Costumes (Annie Henschel) were just right, such as Frank’s jacket and Hugo’s Fairisle sweater, and particularly impressive was the sheer amount of costumes and costume changes presented. Alice’s wedding dress was a triumph, both cleverly designed and funny.

The set design by Peter Blanchard and Larua Drew made very effective use of the wide stage which allowed for three separate sets alongside each other: Geraldine Granger’s living room, the parish hall and the church interior, represented by a large stained-glass window – a lovely design and well executed. There wasn’t quite enough space to have both of the sofas in the Vicar’s living room permanently in position so one of them needed to be moved into place and back between the relevant scenes. This was handled smoothly and efficiently by the Stage Hands (Robert Wood and Phoebe Humphries) and the flow and pace was maintained throughout despite the play including a large number of short scenes, especially in the second half. Having the recorded organ arrangement of various Abba songs played between the scenes was a lovely touch which worked really well. A clever and subtle lighting design was used to distinguish the three sets, with a warm blue light for the church. Well done to the Lighting and Sound team (Tom Selby and Freddie Roake).

This production was clearly very much a team effort and a special mention should be made for Front of House; as a Drama Society SNADS’ warm welcome and hospitality is second to none. Congratulations to you all and thank you very much for a wonderful evening.

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