Douglas Adams’ wildly inventive intergalactic adventure has landed in West London, allowing audiences to escape Earth by hitching a ride on the Heart of Gold spaceship with its infinite improbability drive. Accompanied by all the Hitchhikers’ characters, the crew try not to panic as they seek the answer to the eternal question of life, the universe and everything. This beloved sci-fi classic has been given an immersive theatre adaptation by co-creators Arvind Ethan David and Jason Ardizzone-West with a cast of energetic and multi-talented performers. Benjamin Durham’s Arthur Dent has the perfect expression of a man who doesn’t know what’s going on while he searches for his lost love and simultaneously tries to stop his home being bulldozed. Tamara Saffir as Fenchurch is also spot-on casting as the woman Arthur spends aeons yearning for. Andrew Evans gives Marvin the Paranoid Android a hang-dog air oozing sadness and depression. It’s Ford Prefect who drives the story though and he’s played to the max and beyond by Oliver Britten, leaping on the bar, chatting to audience members and generally MCing the show.
The pre-recorded characters – Tamsin Greig as the Voice of the Guide, Lenora Crichlow as Trillion, Samira Ahmed as Newsreader and Sanjeev Bhaskar as Vogon Jeltz – are excellent. As is the rest of the show’s multimedia. There’s video, voice-over narration, a huge globe, and digital mice, all well-integrated into the show.
This is an immersive and kinetic production, full of creative invention, with the audience being guided through various areas of the theatre as they travel across the galaxy to meet Slartibartfast (Richard Costello), who holds Earth’s future in his hands. It crams a lot of Adams’ story into its 90 minutes, so can feel a bit rushed. But along the way, this show still manages to include Adams’ main messages of not destroying the planet because there’s no back-up, never stop asking questions, and the power of love. Will people who haven’t read the book, heard the radio plays or seen the TV series have a clue what’s going on? Probably not. But don’t panic. This is, in any event, a really fun show. The whole cast are clearly having a terrific time, and so are the audience.
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is playing at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith until 15th February 2026. Tickets are on sale from: https://riversidestudios.co.uk/see-and-do/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-185234/
Reviewer: Carole Gordon
Reviewed: 25th November 2025
North West End UK Rating:
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