The village of Dibley needs a new vicar. David Horton and the parish council are expecting a man. Instead, Geraldine Granger walks through the door, announces that she is their new vicar and immediately upsets several assumptions. With wonderfully literal Alice Tinker beside her, Geraldine sets about winning over a village populated by the unforgettable Jim, Hugo, Owen, Frank, Letitia and a deeply unimpressed David. Resistance gradually gives way to friendship as Geraldine becomes part of village life and Dibley discovers that its unexpected new vicar may be exactly what it needs.
All Saints Elton Theatre Company presented the stage adaptation of The Vicar of Dibley from Wednesday 10th to Saturday 13th April 2024, directed by Andy Milthorpe and Rebecca Foster.
Adapted by Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter from Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer’s much-loved television series, the play brings together many of the characters and situations audiences remember from the original programme.
The story begins after the death of Dibley’s elderly vicar and the arrival of his replacement. For some members of the parish council, discovering their new vicar is a woman is quite enough excitement for one decade.
Jacqui Collier played Geraldine, who is warm, capable, funny and not especially interested in fitting anybody’s idea of what a village vicar ought to look or sound like.
Around her are some of British comedy’s most recognisable characters. Helen Shaw played Alice, with her own special relationship with logic, while Ewan Arthur played Hugo Horton. Jim has difficulty getting to the word yes. Owen generally has something alarming happening on the farm. And David Horton likes to believe that he remains firmly in charge.
He does not.
Our spring 2024 production brought the residents of Dibley to the stage in Bury, celebrating a comedy filled with eccentric characters but built around something rather warm: a community learning to make room for somebody new.