ON THURSDAY night, it was pure, unadulterated joy to be back reviewing the Thurrock Court Players (TCP).
This reviewer has been watching their plays for sixteen years. Many have been warmly reviewed, a few so-so’s and the very rare misfire (Terry Pratchett comes to mind).
The thing about Thurrock Court Players is that they are the quintessentially, English amateur dramatics company.
Every town should have one. And if you have one, they should have a Preservation Order placed on it.
They give the audience what they want and the audience loved it.
Which takes us to the Vicar of Dibley. In some ways, you think the TCP were born to perform this play. They just nail it.
We have to start with Jill Snelling as the eponymous vicar as she is the glue that keeps the play together. In many ways, Jill tones down her Geraldine so that the others can shine.
This is the first we have seen Gemma Cavini perform and her Alice Tinker was outstanding. The character has become one of legend and Gemma gets every nuance of the personality.
The performance in many ways is full of great cameos and it is testament to veteran director Martyn Williams that it presents so well as a whole.
This could so easily have been a case of people “outacting” each other instead they all performed so well together.
It is a great script but it is what you do with it. It may be seven years since YourThurrock reviewed their Vicar of Dibley but again, David Carey’s Jim Trott has the audience roaring, especially dressed as Billie Jean-King.
In many ways, TCP has a number of under-rated actors. Performers such as Vic Gray, Wayne Prince, Lisa Chapman and Harry Doyle are so consistent but always bring a depth and warmth to their characters.
Likewise, it would be very easy for Mike Jones, as Owen Newitt, to ham his character up but instead Mike finds the right balance.
His delivery is always great however I don’t think we will ever recover from seeing him in a silver Elvis suit!
They received a rapturous and well deserved round of applause at the end.
There are peformances on Friday and Saturday.
Please go and see.
It is vital that the Thameside Theatre gets support. It is a fantastic theatre, full of fantastic people, both on and off stage.
I, too, saw this on Thursday evening. My friend and I really enjoyed it. I love going to the Thameside and will be gutted if we lose it! The idea of having to go up to London is not at all appealing, or affordable! The borough must accommodate all its residents when it comes to recreation!!