Review
The Vicar of Dibley
Thurrock Court Players
Thameside Theatre
THERE is no doubt that the Thurrock Court Players (TCP) were born to perform the Vicar of Dibley. So many of their tried and trusted performers were perfect for the roles that they played. However, this reviewer (and he has bee reviewing them for close to nine years) did not expect a performance of skill, timing, humour, professionalism and pin-point characterisation that we witnessed on Thursday night at the Thameside Theatre.
There were so many stand out performances but this was, above all else, an ensemble piece and let us not forget, by people who have full time jobs, and then on cold evenings for months, put the hard yards in to produce top quality entertainment.
There were some roles that stood out more than others but all roles (and the direction) deserve the highest praise. In many ways, the solid roles of vicar Geraldine (Jill Snelling) and David Horton (Vic Gray) may have not been as outlandish but they were the anchors that laid the foundation for the performance.
First off was Louise Alsop as the ditzy verger, Alice Tinker. Louise has all the verbal tics and mannerisms to perfection but in many ways that is the easy bit. Louise got underneath the skin of the character to produce a wonderful demonstration of physical comedy.
The same can be said of Dave Carey as Jim "No no no" Trott. He was perfect with the stammering No’s but his performance was so much more than that. He was always acting, totally into the character. His highlights, to this critic, was the interplay and body language. The "Show you the ropes" scene being a perfect example.
Some may say, it is a cracking script and you can’t go wrong. Sure, but giving someone Usain Bolt’s running shoes won’t make them a 9.58 second 100 metre runner!
Wayne Prince has always had a way with boyish foppish charm and he was just so perfect as Hugo.
Mike Jones as Owen really came into his own in the second half and his delivery of the lines regarding a wayward chipped tooth was a masterclass in timing. Again, he could have really hammed it up but showed that less could be more.
We must also comment on Harry Doyle as Frank and Lisa Chapman as Letitia did very well in less starry roles but they did not waste a single syllable
There were also other touches such as the children scene in the middle and an outlandish advert for their Blackadder just after the interval which was a great idea.
How will we judge its success? We think the fact that in the second half, each short scene received a round of applause from the packed audience.
It was also good to see the mayor of Thurrock, cllr Steve Liddiard and the deputy mayor, cllr Sue Gray at the performance.
The fact that all four performances were sold out. The fact that they were turning people away on a cold February evening , speaks volumes for amateur dramatics.
It also lays down a challenge to Thurrock Council that they must play their part in rejuvenating the Thameside Theatre as promised on Wednesday night in their cabinet meeting.
