![\"Lucia](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/org_img_1559945939_L-Hitch-Hiker06-0638-LawrenceKHo.jpg\")
<\/a>Lucia Towers. Photo by Lawrence K. Ho, as is the big one at the top of this page.<\/p><\/div>\n
I still applaud The Wallis for bringing us such a broad range of entertainments, and for giving young people an opportunity like this one; The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy<\/em> was produced by The Wallis Studio Ensemble, which is a theater company for \u201cearly-career actors.\u201d<\/p>\n That nescience was definitely on display here; this particular group has so much more to learn–everything<\/em> about their performances was wrong.<\/p>\n The entire presentation was like one of those bad high school presentations on Saturday Night Live<\/em>, where the students think they\u2019re being so profound. But at least the kids on SNL<\/em> are funny<\/em>! That\u2019s what this<\/em> show is\u00a0supposed<\/em>\u00a0to be, but sadly, it missed the mark.<\/p>\n The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy<\/em> began as a comedy science fiction broadcast on BBC radio in England back in 1978, when hippies were busy asking each other if they \u201cgrok.\u201d People probably listened to it while on LSD. So that might explain the popularity and the longevity because this<\/em> production definitely did not!<\/p>\n Since the series et al has such a loyal cult following, obviously The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy<\/em>, in general, has many fans. I don\u2019t think it would have been my<\/em> cup of tea, under any<\/em> circumstances, and\u00a0this offering did not alter that point of view. There was so much opportunity in this often-produced show for fun and merriment. But none of it ever came to fruition here.<\/p>\n I researched it later, to find-out what I had just seen, (since these actors did not give me even a clue,) and it turns-out that, after the radio program, it was turned into several other forms, including novels, comic books, a TV show, a video game, and even a not-too-long-ago movie. So I guess there are<\/em> audiences who are interested in this tale. (But first you need to be able to decipher what the actors are saying.) It\u2019s considered to be in the lonely category of \u201ccomedy science-fiction,\u201d two other aspects you could not tell from this production.<\/p>\n Tracey Dory. Photo by Lawrence K. Ho.<\/p><\/div>\n As to the performances, every single member of this big cast tried way too hard.<\/p>\n Because the original radio show\u00a0was in England, several cast members tried to affect a British accent, but none too successfully. Just because it originated<\/em> in England all those years ago, there was no need for them to use English accents. Most of the action takes place in Outer Space! But they did not do alien<\/em> accents, (or\u00a0was<\/em> that were they doing?,) so they needed to drop the bad British ones! I\u2019ve honestly never before seen an entire cast I did not understand! (At least a few of them finally gave up on their clumsy attempts pretty quickly.)<\/p>\n The most guilty of them was Schuyler Girion, who played the Narrator. She was absolutely not trying to help us understand anything<\/em> she was saying–she appeared to be too busy being impressed with her desperate fake English accent and not-straight-standing self. (But it\u2019s unknown how much of the fault may lie with Madeleine Dahm, the director, who allowed or encouraged the synthetic performance.)<\/p>\n Also annoying was that the cast walked among the audience every now and then. And I have to advise that it was not smart of them to throw a giant ball into the audience; even had it been lighter than it looked and sounded, if it had hit<\/em> someone, the Wallis would have a new moniker, if you get my drift!<\/p>\n<\/a>