Vicar of Dibley
Reviewed by Carol Webb
The Full House notice at the entry to Amdram's Vicar of Dibley Sunday matinee was a sign of things to come as a cast of talented performers channelled the new vicar and daft parish councillors of the 1990s BBC hit series with almost three hours of non-stop laughs.
Director Chris McKenzie's production starred a lineup of oddballs straight from central casting. Ditsy Alice was more Alice than the original Alice; likewise grumpy foul-mouthed bachelor Owen, who wanted a woman so badly he was even willing to marry vicar Geraldine.
Meanwhile Dopey Hugo required vicarly instruction in the art of love before he could tie the knot with aforesaid Alice, to the great dismay of his posh father, parish council chair David, who exhausted his thesaurus listings of synonyms for poor dipstick Alice.
Of course, the Streets — Mike and Joan — were their usual captivating selves and Joan aka Letitia set a new benchmark for OTT costumes and hats so awful they'd even be banned from the royal enclosure at Ascot.
As for Geraldine, she not only won over David and the parish council as the — wait for it — first female clergy to wash up in Dibley — but won the hearts of the packed audience. I was going to urge all readers to get their tickets faster than the vicar could down a large gin but, as the unforgettable Jim aka Ian Jones would say "noo-no-no-no-YES" the remaining shows are already sold out! As Owen would say, "it's just not bloody fair".
