Hold onto your towel. A new production of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is coming to London.
This new adaptation of the Douglas Adams masterpiece will open in November 2025 at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith — a theatre beside the Thames that is convenient for humans, mice and dolphins.
It's your chance to (try and) follow the zany, intergalactic adventures of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Trillian, Fenchurch, Marvin the Paranoid Android et al. live on stage for the first time in years.
Famously, the story has been through more adaptations than the multifaceted evolvobeast of Manifest IV. What started as a radio series soon became a five-part 'trilogy' of books, and then begat a text-based adventure game, a charmingly negligible-budget TV show, a less-charming but serviceable movie, and a series of comic books. Needless to say, there have been other stage adaptations before, but this will almost certainly be the first one to open in Hammersmith in mid-November during a year ending in 5.
It'll probably be good, too. Co-creator, writer and producer Arvind Ethan David was mentored by Douglas Adams, and helped adapt his Dirk Gently novels for television. His co-creator Jason Ardizzone-West has done stage design for the likes of Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga.
Little has been announced about the cast or format, but it sounds like the show takes a bit of a swerve to suit theatrical presentation:
The night begins in a rather unusual pub as you settle in, drink in hand, for an evening of storytelling and spectacle. From there, the story lifts off – quite literally – as you hitch a ride on a passing spaceship, discover the meaning of life, and join a quest to persuade a group of inter-dimensional mice to give the Earth a second chance.
No babel fish necessary.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Live opens at Riverside Studios from 15 November. Get tickets here.
