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It was 42 years ago this week that The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy made its debut as an unassuming BBC radio series written by a tall, yet largely unknown ape descendant named Douglas Adams.

The universe hasn’t quite been the same since.

Modestly successful, the first six episodes of Hitchhiker’s Guide immediately hooked listeners with its absurd views on, well, life, the universe, and everything. Although the genres of science fiction and comedy had been combined before, most notably by Kurt Vonnegut, Adams’ story hit at a time when Star Wars had everyone looking for the next big genre hit. The fact that it was brilliantly written and performed didn’t hurt matters either.

Word of mouth about the program began to spread like crazy, and the Hitchhiker’s phenomenon was officially underway. Soon, everything from a second radio series to a book adaptation to a spin-off towel...

The Public Theater Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis Executive Director, Patrick Willingham announced complete casting today for the New York premiere of The Vagrant Trilogy, a Public Theater commission, written by Emerging Writers Group Alumna Mona Mansour. Directed by Mark Wing-Davey, The Vagrant Trilogy begins performances in the LuEsther Hall on Tuesday, March 17 with a Joseph Papp Free Preview performance, and will run through Sunday, April 26 with an official press opening on Wednesday, April 1.

Kirsten Howard Oct 12, 2017

Douglas Adams’ cult classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy will return next year in a new Radio 4 series...

Radio 4 have got a real treat in store for us in the spring: they're in the midst of creating a new series of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, featuring the original cast.

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Six instalments of Hexagonal Phase will debut in 2018, adapted from the spin-off book And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer. They'll also include some unpublished bits and bobs from the much-missed Adams, drawn from various notebooks and writings that are currently being kept safe in the St. John’s College library in Cambridge.

Simon Jones will be back as Arthur Dent in the series, with Geoff McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox and Sandra Dickinson as Trillian. There'll also be guest stars, including...

Interview James Hunt 18 Jun 2013 - 07:00

James chats to directing legend Dirk Maggs about Hitchhiker's, superheroes, Neverwhere, sci-fi, and making radio sound sexy, big, and raw...

As a radio writer and director, Dirk Maggs' body of work is about as impressive as it gets. As well as being hand-selected by Douglas Adams to continue the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series, he's also responsible for this year's smash-hit adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and the Hitchiker's Live touring stage show. James managed to catch up with him for a chat about life, the universe, and everything geeky.

So last year you did the Hitchhiker's Live tour, which reunited the radio cast on stage and had people like Stephen Fry and Neil Gaiman guesting as the voice of the book. And clearly, it was a great success, because as well as releasing the live recording, you're doing another run this year,...

Feature Zoe Bond Jan 16, 2013

Zoe provides an introduction to the TV version of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, a television series unlike any other...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable series. In fact it's arguably the most remarkable series ever to come out of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Not only is it a remarkable series it is also a highly successful one, having already been produced as a radio series, novel, LP and stage show.

Labelled by unimaginative producers as ‘unfilmable’, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was aired on BBC two in January 1981 to an eagerly awaiting audience of fans and hoopy froods alike. The award winning series starred many of the original cast members including Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox and Peter Jones as the voice of the guide; however for the TV series a new Trillian and Ford Prefect were required.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced today that the first preview of Craig Lucas' The Singing Forest has been moved to Friday, April 10 due to the need for additional technical rehearsals. Directed by Mark Wing-Davey, The Singing Forest was scheduled to begin previews on Tuesday, April 7 and open on Monday, April 27. The show will now open on Tuesday, April 28 at 7 Pm.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced today that the first preview of Craig Lucas' The Singing Forest has been moved to Friday, April 10 due to the need for additional technical rehearsals. Directed by Mark Wing-Davey, The Singing Forest was scheduled to begin previews on Tuesday, April 7 and open on Monday, April 27. The show will now open on Tuesday, April 28 at 7 Pm.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced initial casting for Christopher Durang's Why Torture Is Wrong, And The People Who Love Them and Craig Lucas's The Singing Forest. Nicholas Martin will direct Why Torture Is Wrong... with a cast of seven that includes Amir Arison, David Aaron Baker, Kristine Nielsen and John Pankow. Mark Wing-Davey will direct a cast of nine that includes Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis in The Singing Forest. The cast for Why Torture Is Wrong..., which runs March 24 to April 26, will include Amir Arison (Queens Boulevard at Signature), David Aaron Baker (Dead Man's Cell Phone at Playwrights Horizons), Kristine Nielsen (Crazy Mary at Playwrights Horizons), and John Pankow (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at The New Group). Early casting for The Singing Forest, running April 7 to May 17, will feature Olympia Dukakis (Academy Award winner for Moonstruck) as Loe Reiman.

Back in her Florida prep school days, Monica Raymund dreamed of studying acting at a top conservatory. As a senior, she applied to undergraduate schools around the country — a dozen in all — some of which had actor training programs, including Juilliard, Carnegie Mellon, and Boston University. But Raymund was also a "science geek," she says. "I was looking for a school where I could do science, as well as theatre if I chose to." A voice in her head, however, told her that a traditional college would allow her little time for acting, and when she was accepted to Juilliard in 2004, all other options — along with her petri dishes — were swept off the table. "This was clearly the universe's way of setting this opportunity up," she says. "And if I didn't capitalize on that, I think it would've been a pretty dumb move." Earlier this year, Raymund completed her Bfa degree at Juilliard.