Vicar of Dibley

Presenting a popular television comedy series as a play must always present a company with something of a dilemma.  Should the cast mimic the television actors, or should they try to bring something new to the parts?  Will the audience expect an exact duplicate of the television programme; will they even be familiar with the original?  Director Malcolm Lowerson and his cast trod a middle course, presenting echos of the originals whilst the actors mostly brought their own versions of the characters to the stage.  

The script by Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter (based on TV scripts by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer), somehow seemed to encapsulate the entire series into a two hour play.  Obviously, much was missing but not really missed.  

Ovingham Drama Group is really an ensemble.  If they don’t get equal stage time in this production, they will in the next one.  So it is perhaps, a little inappropriate to pick out any individuals, but I will anyway.  Jeanette Hunter donned a shiny black wig and inhabited the character of the new, (God forbid) female vicar, Geraldine.  She had a twinkle in her eye and a look about her which made it clear she had the sexist men on the Church Committee pretty well weighed up!  Jim Wardle, as Committee Chairman David Horton, had the veins standing out in his neck at times, trying to come to terms with not just a female vicar but also a son determined to marry the simplest girl in the village.  By the end of the play, however, he was begging Geraldine to stay.

The hapless/happy couple, played by Francis Jones and Lorraine White, as Hugo and Alice, were a joy to watch, especially that kiss which bridged the gap between Acts 1 and 2!  Ian Heslop’s take on Owen Newitt was, perhaps, the closest to the original TV interpretation of the lecherous farmer with an eye on Geraldine – and probably every other female (human or otherwise) in the village.  The jokes seemed a little ruder than I remember from the TV show, and poor Alice still doesn’t get any of them.

The production moved swiftly along, with jokes and comedy business coming thick and fast.  The audience, obviously familiar with the original, seemed to anticipate and appreciate all the gags. The scene moved back and forth swiftly between the Church Hall (scene of the committee meetings) and the vicarage.  The stage was too small to split so it was necessary to move back and forth between the two scenes.  This was, however, achieved quite smoothly, with a little bit of work in front of the curtain when required.

The Reading Room at Ovingham seemed almost full for this first night and most of the audience left the room chuckling at the end of a very amusing and enjoyable production.

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