The Vicar of Dibley - Review - People's Theatre

The Vicar of Dibley
People's Theatre 
2nd Oct 2019

The People's Theatre have chosen a crowd-pulling TV favourite for the first show in the main theatre this season. This stage adaptation of the Vicar of Dibley offers some key moments from the original series, while the developing romance between Alice Tinker and Hugo Horton provides the thread hat holds it all together. This makes it into a cohesive play rather than a series of funny sketches.

As always with an television adaptation, the cast are faced with the dilemma of reproducing beloved characters on stage. There is little room to put their own stamp on the characters for fear of alienating the audience, so it seems to me it must take a different approach to the acting and directing. Luckily, the original writers of the Vicar of Dibley created a set of the most eccentric characters. Each one has a foible which essentially defines their character. This eccentric band of villagers are more like caricatures and if the actor gets that foible right, then the rest is plain sailing. Happily, People's team have this spot on. All the favourites are there, quite lovingly recreated, from unconventional vicar Geraldine Granger right through to the dippy Alice Tinker and hilariously stuttering Jim Trott.

The large People's Theatre stage is perfect for the zoned staging which allows characters to move seamlessly from the Vicar's house, to Horton Manor, to the Church (for those all important Parish Council Meetings!). Each set area is lit individually, to ensure we focus on the scene in hand while some very funny freeze framing lets us know that a change is on the way...full marks for holding the pose!

It's impossible to pick out one performance over another -  each one is hilariously accurate in the portrayal, but I did love the trio of Tony Seghal as Jim Trott, Mike Smith as Frank Pickle and John MacDonald as Owen Newitt.   There were plenty of guffaws and giggles from the audience throughout - and obviously the knock out scene is Alice's Wedding. No spoilers - you have to see it for yourself to truly appreciate its beauty!

It's fun, it's silly and it is an hour and a half of escapism - which is heartily needed at the moment. The full auditorium is testament to the love we have of our sitcoms. The laughter during and the chatter afterwards are testament to another great production at the People's Theatre.

The Vicar of Dibley runs until Sarurday 5th October. I recommend booking tickets in advance to avoid disappointment. It will tickle your funny bone.

Denise Sparrowhawk

Review - No Sex Please, We're British - Royalty Theatre

No Sex Please, We're British!

Royalty Theatre
24th Sept 2018

Written by Anthony Marriott and Allister Foot
Directed by Andrew Barella and David Farn


The Royalty's opening show of the season is a classic British farce - that staple of any game of charades in the 70s - No Sex Please We're British!

The play is set firmly in the 1970s and reflects the society at that time. Peter and Frances Hunter are newly weds, just settling into their flat above the bank where Peter is assistant manager. The flat is provided by the bank, and offers them little in the way of privacy - an intercom links the flat directly to the bank downstairs. Wanting to speed up her dream of owning a house with a garden, Frances has ordered a consignment of luxury Swedish Glassware to sell. This goes against the bank's policy which prohibits their manager's wives from working.  As if this was not bad enough, when the consignment arrives they discover to their horror that it is infact pornographic photographs. Add to this the arrival of Peter's mother, the regional manager of the bank, the financial inspector, and a missing cheque and you have the recipe for potential disaster. Lives could be ruined - and discovery must be avoided at all costs. Hilarity ensues as Peter and Frances, helped and hindered by head clerk Brian Runnicles, try to extricate themselves from this unfortunate predicament.

The set is simple - the living room of the flat with a selection of doors to facilitate the door slamming and room hopping which is a requirement of a good farce, and a malfunctioning sliding partition to the kitchen, used throughout for physical comedic effect. The set itself is fairly nondescript - it could be from almost any era, but the costumes (by Laura Finlay and Sue Bailey) are bang on 70s with wing banger collars, beige suits and amorphous print dresses. Director Andrew Barella chose to keep the 1970s setting but he could easily have set this play in the present and it would have worked (with just a bit of a feminist tweak) in light of the recent revelations about sexual misconduct in high places.

The cast do a stirling job, eliciting plenty of belly laughs from the audience as the situation becomes

more and more farcical and the attempts to remedy things lead to more and more outlandish ideas and consequences. Lee Wilkins portrayal of the increasingly desperate banker, does not  disappoint, while Nichol Kilty gives good support as his beleaguered wife. the star of the show is undoubtedly Tom Kelly as Brian Runnicles, who flounces and sulks his way through the many outrageous attempts to dispose of the illicit materials. Mik Richardson adds to the hilarity of the final act with and over the top performance of sleeping pill induced stupor. Special mention should also go to the two ladies of the night - not mentioned in the programme - who provide the spice in the final act.

There are of course some first night hitches - boxes that refuse to perform, and scenery that wobbles perilously when the doors slam, one or two stutters over lines, but there are also plenty of well delivered lines, pregnant pauses and raging innuendo. It's a fun start to the season - as long as you take the 70s misogyny with a pinch of salt!

No Sex Please runs until Saturday 29th Sept - advance booking gets you a reduced price on the ticket but even at £9 on the door it will hardly break the bank! Book at Ticketsource .

Denise Sparrowhawk

Hi-De-Hi! - People's Theatre - Review

Hi-de-Hi!

Photographs by Paula Smart

People's Theatre
3rd Oct 2017

It's 1956 and holiday camps are the place to go for a fun filled family holiday. We are at Maplins, Crimpton-on-Sea, all set to be entertained by the team of Yellowcoats - under the watchful eye of Gladys Pugh.
The evening's entertainment starts even before we reach the auditorium, as smiling Yellowcoats greet us in the foyer bar and welcome us to Maplins, handing out "Guess the Baby" competition sheets and encouraging us to join in the games and activities later. On the tables there are invitations to  ballroom dancing demonstrations with Yvonne and Barry. It is all very nicely done and sets the mood for the play that is to come.

The stage is set on two levels - at the back, raised up, is Mr Fairbrother's office, business-like with its desk and telephones, while at the front we have holiday camp itself, complete with striped beach hut style entrances leading off stage to "staff only" areas. This area is transformed from staff room to Hawaiian Ballroom with a roll of a tea-trolley or Peggy's cleaning cart. And of course in one corner we have Gladys's office, complete with microphone for the P A system and the glockenspiel. As we settle into our seats the music starts and the Yellowcoats enter. Gladys takes her seat, picks up the sticks, hits those three notes and says "Hello campers, Hi-de-Hi!" our half hearted Ho-de-Ho! is chastised in lilting welsh, "Oh, come on now, you can do better than that! Let's try again..."
This is it, the holiday has begun.

The play is a joy to watch, recreating on stage the characters so expertly drawn for television by Jimmy Perry and David Croft. Rye Mattick is perfect as the simpering and smouldering Gladys Pugh, trying to attract the attention of Jeff Fairbrother, and the haughtiness as she bosses the other Yellowcoats - her body language and facial expressions are classic and will have you laughing out loud! Sean Burnside is equally perfect as the gauche and self conscious Jeffrey Fairbrother, like a fish out of water trying to cope with the demands of both his job as Entertainments Manager and as the object of Gladys's affections. His halting, stuttering delivery is quite brilliant. These two are the stars of the show, aided and abetted by the rest of the cast.

The Yellowcoats sparkle and smile, Barry and Yvonne (Gordon and Val Russell) snipe and carp their way gracefully across the dance floor, Fred Quilly (Andrew De'ath) and Mr Partridge (Mike Smith) grumble and argue, while Ted and Spike (Jack Thompson and Paul Gaitsell) keep us entertained with bad jokes and terrible contests, and Peggy (Alison Carr) cleans the chalets and dreams of becoming a Yellowcoat.



It's funny, warm, lighthearted comedy in a production that is true to the original in every sense - the only thing missing is the Olympic sized swimming pool.

It runs until Sat 7th October and is perfect light entertainment.

Denise Sparrowhawk