Douglas Adams' original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio play is 35 years old this year. The sci-fi comedy, much of which had likely occurred to Douglas Adams like a good idea at the time, has become a cult classic. The series featured many brilliant, little throwaway details that have become well-known to anyone who might be hanging out on the contemporary internet. The concept of the Babel Fish, the phrase "Share and Enjoy" the ubiquity of the number 42 and much, much more. . . all thanks to one man, a steady stream of BBC radio deadlines and quite a lot of baths.
Soulstice Theatre perhaps inadvertently celebrates 35 years of the sci-fi comedy classic with an enhanced Reader's Theatre performance of four episodes of the original series. That's a little less than two hours' worth of reading Thursday, Friday and Saturday June 20th -22nd. All shows start at 7:30 pm and run presumably through 9:30 pm. And given the fact that the original radio shows were lined-up the way they were, each reading will begin with the destruction of the Earth and end with the explosion of a huge computer bank on the legendary planet of Magrathea. This is, of course, assuming that they decide to perform the first four episodes in order . . . a perfectly rational decision with clear plot arc. Although . . . jumping around would be kind of fun and allow the reading to possibly include The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, the Total Perspective Vortex and a few other bits of extreme cleverness . . .
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The production is directed by Mark Flagg. It will be performed entirely by local actors. (This is a bit of a problem for me . . . I listened to the originals constantly in junior high school into high school. Other people listened to music. I listened to the Hitchhiker's Guide radio plays . . . So to me, no one else is going to sound like those characters. Only Simon Jones and Mark Wing-Davey and Geoffrey McGivern and so on. . . ) The reading is enhanced by lighting and sound effects . . . and again . . . so much work at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop went into producing those original sound effects . . . there's nothing quite like the sound of the Earth blowing up in analog that feels really organic in comparison to modern digital sound effects . . . so let's hope that Soulstice makes some good decisions there as well . . .
Once again, Soulstice Theatre's presentation of four Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio play episodes Runs june 20 - 22nd at the Keith Tamsett Studio Theatre. Tickets to the fundraiser are $16 for students and seniors and $18 for adults. For reservations, call 414-481-2800.
