The Orpen Players have already played out a little part of their upcoming production.

That's The Vicar of Dibley, which takes place at the Orpen Memorial Hall in West Bergholt next week.

But at the weekend the cast, and several members of the general public, took part in some filming, which will then form part of the play.

First time director Holly Snowling explains: "As it's the group's 50th year, we felt it would be nice to do something with the community and so we set up the filming of the wedding in the play to take place in front of a real congregation."

That was in the Old St Mary's Church just on the outskirts of the village and run by the Churches Conservation Trust.

"We'll have a screen on stage," Holly adds, "that will then show the film of the wedding to the audience, as well as the characters, who in the play watch it on their return from their honeymoon."

Adapted by Ian Glover and Paul Carpenter from the original TV series by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, it runs from Thursday to Saturday, May 9 to 11 from 8pm each night and because the group feel this will be a particularly popular show, an unusual matinee has been added on the Saturday at 2pm.

Tickets are priced at £7 for Thursday, and £8 for Friday and Saturday, available by calling 01206 241048 or from Ash’s Store West Bergholt. Visit orpenplayers.co.uk for more information.