Festive drama

In a Norfolk vicarage on Christmas Eve 1947, the vicar’s family gather for the Christmas season. Peace and goodwill radiate from the warm-hearted elderly vicar, cared for by his young daughter. But with the arrival of two irritable aunts and an errant daughter, the emotional veneer is skilfully peeled away.

As skeletons tumble from closets and stones are turned over, family members are forced to confront their regrets and secret anxieties. Even the lovable vicar is not immune to the stresses and strains of a normal family life.

Philip Madoc, Barry Foster, Tony Britton and Dermot Walsh have all played the vicar on stage - a task which now falls to Stuart McGugan.

Stuart’s credits include It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Tutti Frutti and Hamish Macbeth. Going back even further, you can add to that sub-editor on the Scottish Daily Mail.

“I used to be a journalist. When I left school, I started on the local papers and ended up being a sub-editor. And then I became an actor.

“If you ever have a dream, then the sub-editors’ desk on the Scottish Daily Mail is exactly the place that will persuade you to go and pursue it! When I told the city editor that I was going to be an actor, he grabbed me by the lapel and said ‘Do it! ****** do it!’ He felt it quite strongly!

“Even now, if things get depressing, I say to myself things could be worse. I could still be on the Forfar Despatch! I had to cover the Forfar games every fortnight. The newspaper was too mean to let me cover the away games.”

Instead, Stuart went off to drama school in Glasgow: “I was there for three years, so I am told! It was a great time. Glasgow is a great city to be a student in, and to be a drama student, was like a complete licence to go off and be a complete [idiot]. We were all into method acting, and that meant we had to experience it. It meant that we could go in for all the indulgences!”

Tickets on 01483 440000 or www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk.