Thursday, August 24, 2023

Issue:

Mackay and Whitsunday Life

SHOWING NOW The Vicar Of Dibley 2

Following the resounding success of its 2018 Vicar of Dibley season, Kucom Theatre has opened its Mackay Festival Fringe production of The Vicar of Dibley 2!

This year’s stage adaptation is based on three popular episodes: Love and Marriage, featuring the wedding of Alice Tinker and Hugo Horton; Autumn, and the Vicar’s scandalous fling with David Horton’s younger brother; and Winter, culminating in the Dibley Nativity Play.

The cast includes an array of well-known local performers including Pia Larsen, Geoff Stewart-McLean, Zachary Trounson, Chanelle Redgwell, John Irvine, Paul Vander Loos, Andrew Deguara and Richard Calligan, with Vicky Bobeldyk in a guest cameo role.

Geoff Stewart-McLean, reprising his role from the 2018 production, once again decided to make the ultimate sacrifice and have his head shaved to play the role of Councillor David Horton (played by the follically challenged Gary Waldhorn in the TV series).

More than 400 tickets have been sold – don’t leave it too late to see one of the hilarious performances.

“We owe a special debt of gratitude to Rev Dr Julia Pitman, Rev Prof James Haire, and the Church Council of St Paul’s Uniting Church, Mackay, for letting us film inside their beautiful church, and for generously sharing their resources (and their congregation) with us in joint celebration of our respective landmark anniversaries, St Paul’s 150th and Kucom’s 75th.”

What: The Vicar of Dibley 2

Where: Kucom Theatre, 1 Snow Wright Court, Andergrove

When: 15, 16 July (matinee and evening) and 21, 22 and 23 July.

Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/BVNWP.

REVIEW

Samantha Munt went to a dress-rehearsal of the Vicar of Dibley 2, here’s what she had to say.

“If that was Kucom’s idea of a dress rehearsal then the rest of us need to pull our socks up, because that was tighter than most productions I’ve ever seen on closing night. The set was beautiful, the audio and video cues were spot on, the costumes were perfectly suited to every character, right down to the bobby socks with loafers (which seriously- only Chanelle Redgewell can pull off) and there wasn’t a single flubbed line unless it was Andrew intentionally flubbing it in character.

“Each play is short and sweet and hilarious, and no, you do not need to be a fan of the actual show to follow along because each stands beautifully on their own, with their own little sub-plots.

“Kucom theatre is celebrating their 75th birthday this week, and that is definitely something that the people of Mackay ought to get behind celebrating.

“If you’re as ready for a good laugh as I know I was, then grab your tickets for the Vicar of Dibley 2 quickly before they sell out.”

A display of Mackay Community Theatre, Kudos, Kucom Theatre memorabilia was opened at the Gordon White Library on Monday 4 July and will run until Friday 5 August

In other news