MALMESBURY Fringe Theatre, a newly formed amateur dramatics society, present their inaugural production, an adaptation of the Vicar of Dibley.

Deb Poneskis, the group's founder, said: "The Vicar of Dibley is one of my all-time favourite shows.

"I've lived in Malmesbury for 18 months and it is a wonderful place to live but, hilariously, it is also the perfect place to stage this show, you can meet most of the characters in and around the pubs. 

"A group of us were working together on another performance last year and the idea grew from a seed then.

"As our friendships have grown so has the theatre company."

The production will try to stay as true to the much loved TV series as possible.

During the interval there will be a Dibley village fete where local charities will run stalls and the staff at the summer cafe will produce a feast in honour of Mrs Cropley with a bar selling snacks.

Deb said: "Linda (a close friend and fellow founder) and Lucy (Deb's 16-year-old daughter) have done an excellent job of adapting the TV scripts for a stage production. 

"They have been able to keep it true to the original whilst playing to the strengths of the cast and ensuing that our favourite bits are included. 

All direct profits from the production will be donated to local good causes including a donation to the Malmesbury Abbey Roof fund.

"The Abbey is an iconic building in our town and the Abbey team have supported our production from the outset", said Deb.

"We are also supporting other local charities through donations to the programmes which will go to a different cause for each show.

"The first show is dedicated to the memory of a local teenager who died before Christmas. Hannah Cubin's death hit the community very hard and so the first show will support Wiltshire Air Ambulance fund which was set up by Hannah's parents.

  • The performances take place between Thursday, March 2 to Saturday, March 3 at 7pm at Malmesbury Town Hall with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm. Tickets, adults £7.50, concessions £6.50, are available from January 23 at the Summer Café, High Street, Malmesbury or via malmesburyfringetheatre.com