The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy Radio Show Live

From the first Pink Floydesque bass rumble to the final plaintive musings of Marvin the Paranoid Android I really tried to engage with this staging of the Douglas Adams classic – but I failed. Or did I? Maybe the show failed? After all, for a sell out, the audience of, for the most part, hard core fans seemed equally bewildered. Where were the belly laughs, the chortles of recognition as the classic moments were delivered? The laughter was sparse to say the least and no amount of lighting and technical gimcrackery was helping make things better. Roger McGough as the voice of the book was seriously ill prepared, stumbling over the words like a novice. The cast, mainly the original radio crew, gave it their best but only Simon Jones and Geoff McGivern as Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect seemed to have bothered to learn the script with the rest reading throughout. Marvin was excellent, witty and well presented by a good puppet and operator but the rest left me disappointed and cold. It’s not that I wanted more, I just felt that the fans deserved more and so did Douglas Adams.

Theatre Royal Brighton, 12 June 2012
Rating:
Andrew Kay