Dibley cast provide a divine comedy
Vicar of Dibley, Everyman Open Air Festival
AS Dibley’s favourite ditherer Jim Trott would say “No No No No N No Yes! It was a fantastic show”.
Taking on a much-loved British classic sitcom such as The Vicar of Dibley always takes a certain amount of bravery, but the Everyman cast and crew pulled off a heavenly production, with some devilish humour added in.
The Vicar of Dibley is the second of four shows in the company’s annual Open Air Theatre Festival. Established in the 1980s, the festival has gone from strength to strength and is now the largest event of its kind outside London.
The event attracts 20,000 people to Sophia Gardens in the Welsh capital every summer and director Paul Williams says the hard work of putting it together was always worth it. He says they are proud to “offer theatre of the highest quality without an elitist price tag”.
And that hard work was evident in the latest show, judging by the professionalism and quality of the cast, the set and the performance.
The Vicar of Dibley is based on the popular BBC sitcom, which first aired in 1994 and saw the effervescent Dawn French playing vicar Geraldine Granger, who is outgoing, vivacious and fun-loving, as well as caring and committed to her flock. But her ebullient ways do not initially endear her to the head of the parish council.
This production is a skilful blend of some of the series’ most endearing moments and both fans of the show and Dibley newbies will be delighted with the delivery of some classic moments.
In this production, Sophie Lewis plays the wonderfully batty character of parish verger Alice Tinker with aplomb, not least during the ‘I can’t believe, I can’t believe it’s not butter... is not butter’ sketch.
Likewise, Jim’s ‘No No No No Knowing me, No No No No Knowing you’ best man’s speech is well executed by Wayne Vincent; in fact the entire cast do a great job of nailing all the series character’s quirks and mannerisms.
While the production is thoroughly enjoyable, the park setting helps make for a memorable night, especially when the lights are switched on as dusk creeps in. All in all, a divine comedy.
Cathy Owen