A STAGE adaptation of the classic sitcom ‘The Vicar of Dibley’ will have Black Country audiences entertained this July.

The production – which comes to the Oldbury Rep stage between Saturday, July 7, and July 14 – takes its source from the first two series of the hit show, which aired between 1994 and 1998.

It is primarily about the reception a female vicar receives upon being assigned to a small farming village in Oxfordshire called Dibley, following the 1992 changes in the Church of England that permitted the ordination of women.

At first the village community is horrified at having received a female vicar from the head church, however, they eventually learn to accept her as she learns – and challenges – the steadfast ways of the village.

She manoeuvers her way into the hearts of the parishioners and the community in which she lives.

Led by Dawn French and created by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew Archer, The Vicar of Dibley is among the most successful programmes in the digital era, with the various Christmas and New Year specials in 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 all entering the top 10 programmes of the year.

The sitcom received multiple British Comedy Awards, two International Emmys, and was a multiple British Academy Television Awards nominee, and in 2004 was voted third in Britain’s Best Sitcom.

The Oldbury Rep stage production runs each night at 7.30pm in the main house.

Tickets are priced at £10 for adults (£8 on Monday and Tuesday evenings) and £9 for concessions and are available from the box office by calling 0121 552 2761, online at www.oldburyrep.org.

They can also be bought in person from the box office on Monday evenings from 7.30pm and every night of the production from 7pm.