PAUL Rendel, Chairman of Sale and Altrincham Musical Theatre will be front of house at their production of Vicar of Dibley at Altrincham Little Theatre from April 4-8.

The arrangement with writers Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer means that not only do charges of £75 per performance go to Comic Relief, but that the society can choose their own scripts.

They’ve picked The Arrival, Easter Bunny and Love and Marriage.

“I have been to some rehearsals and haven’t stopped laughing since,” he said.

“The person playing Geraldine is my ex-wife, Janice Rendel. This is her first straight play. It’s a big role She went on a cruise two weeks ago and came back word perfect. Her comic timing is second to none.

“She and Rosalind Ford who plays Alice Tinker, make good foils for each other.”

Paul believes imitating a popular TV series is difficult.

“The secret is to get as close as you can to the original but put your own take on it.”

“The director, Martyn Preston, has introduced a lot of things that are not scripted.

“A funny example is when Geraldine and Owen (Adam Garnett) kiss. On TV, he transfers a piece of pork into her mouth but in our version, he takes it back and eats it!”

Another hilarious scene is Alice’s wedding to Hugo Horton (Stuart Sephton)

“The wedding dress is work in progress we keep adding things to it.”

There will be a bucket collection for comic relief.

* Tickets, priced £8.00 -£10.00 from 07504 771051 or 0161 865 0293. Also at samtheatre.co.uk