I have a confession to make. I have never seen a single TV episode of The Vicar of Dibley. Maybe it’s the extreme atheist in me, or the fact that I don’t particularly like Dawn French. If I’m honest, it’s probably both. I should have watched, I guess, because co-creator, Richard Curtis is one of my favourite screenwriters, but I could never get past the whole Church, God, Religion thing. Urgh! However, having been invited to see the stage play by the wonderful Tinkers Farm Opera Company, I can give an honest appraisal with no pre-conceived ideas.

This play was written by Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter and adapted from the original television series of the same name by Curtis along with Paul Mayhew-Archer. And it was clear early on that we were seeing a compilation of some of the TV series’ episodes in the form of short sketches which worked well. I had no problem getting to know the characters, even though I was going into this blind. As a writer, I will always applaud the character creation of the author, but I can also not stress enough how much skill was evident from the performers in bringing these people to life.

Geraldine Granger (played brilliantly by Catherine Tabberner) arrives in Dibley as (Shock, Horror) a female priest. Now the series was originally set 30 years ago, and I assume this play is no different, therefore we get the attitudes of that time. Geraldine immediately crosses swords with the stuffy Chair of the Parish Council in David Horton. Played superbly by Andrew Potter, I had shivers of bureaucracy from the past which haunt me to this day. Believe me, I’ve encountered a few David Hortons in my time.

Vicar of Dibley has a small cast, six more on top of those already mentioned, plus cameos by four children. And it works as the material is so good. Among the rest of the cast is Alice Tinker, portrayed excellently by Becky Johnson. She is the dippy verger who has marvelous scenes with Geraldine and is also the romantic interest for Hugo Horton (Luke Plimmer), the son of David who is sadly lacking in confidence and experience in love. That love theme is a constant throughout and culminates in a wedding at the end, complete with bridesmaids/pages dressed as Teletubbies.

As Owen Newitt, the farmer with dubious hygiene skills, we had Matthew Morgan. Now, I know this role was originally played by the late, great Roger Lloyd-Pack and I could hear him in the delivery, it was so good. The pedantic Frank Pickle was portrayed by Raymond Turrell, and I’ve also come across a few Pickles in the past. Excellent performance. The stammering Jim Trott was Roger Goddard and obviously spot on from what I could gather from audience reaction and was well appreciated. Finally, we get to Dianne Hingley’s wonderful Mrs Cropley. Outside of Geraldine and Horton, it must be said that the remaining Parish Council members were all bat shit crazy to some extent, but Cropley went the extra yard with some of the weirdest concoctions of food and drink you have ever heard of. Finally, the children, in their appearances, were Megan Saunders, Liam Cox, Katie Cleary and Rose Gillespie and each delivered their lines well, looking confident on stage.

The director for this show was Emma Harley who did an outstanding job reimagining this popular TV comedy for the stage. But credit must also go to Richard Cooper, chair of the company for the wonderful set design and costumes. And finally, the excellent lighting from Dave Pittam of Going Dark Theatrical Services was the icing on the cake.

So, what was it like watching a stage show of an extremely popular TV series that I have never seen? I really enjoyed it. Favourite segment for me was the Giving up for Lent sequence. I guess that was the atheist in me all agog at the ludicrousness of it all. But I enjoyed it, and there really is not much to do with Church and God in this show anyway. A most enjoyable evening in the hands of a very good company.

Cheers.

Antony N Britt

*Photos blatantly taken from social media.