Dirk is a stage play adapted from the novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a novel by Douglas Adams. Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 &ndash 11 May 2001 was an English author comic Radio dramatist
History
The original adaptation was by James Goss and Arvind Ethan David while still at school in 1991. James Goss (born 1974 was a senior content producer for the BBC and in charge of the BBC's official Doctor Who website In this form it was less than an hour long and "amusing but utterly incomprehensible".
The same team expanded the script and, with the assistance of producer Matt Wreford, staged a student production from 30 May to 3 June 1995 at the Old Fire Station Theatre in Oxford. Events 1416 - The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund a supporter of Antipope John XXIII burns Jerome of Prague following Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire,
The production made use of computer animation to display some of the difficult scenes and concepts and was generally regarded as a success. SFX magazine said "As fine a piece of science fiction theatre as you are likely to find anywhere. SFX is a British Magazine devoted to Science fiction and Fantasy subjects especially media-related topics but not containing fiction "
Douglas Adams attended the last night and was delighted with the production.
It was revived again in 1997 but this time at the Oxford Playhouse, running from 5 November–8 November. The Oxford Playhouse (often just known as The Playhouse by locals is an independent theatre in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany) Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration Again Douglas Adams was in the audience and this was said to have got him thinking about a movie of Dirk Gently.
There was a further staging at Imperial College London on 8 December–11 December 1999. Imperial College London (officially The Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine as given in its Royal Charter It is one of only three universities to have reached Events 1609 - Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room the second public library of Europe. Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar)
After Adams's death in 2001, a smaller scale production was staged as a tribute at the Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon by the Old Gaol Theatre Company, running from the 5 December–8 December. Events 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations. Events 1609 - Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room the second public library of Europe. The director was a friend of the Adams family and the last night was attended by Douglas's sister, Sue and James Thrift, Douglas's half-brother. This production used none of the computer effects of previous ones and relied heavily on the audience's familiarity with the story. In a neat touch, a sofa, which forms a significant plot item in the book, was wedged in the staircase into the theatre so patrons had to climb over it to get to their seats.
Also in 2001, Dirk went international, with a production by the Vagabond Theatre company running in Perth, Western Australia from 14 June–30 June. Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. Events 1276 - While taking exile in Fuzhou in southern China, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper
The first American production ran from 29 September to 12 December 2006 at the Road Theatre Company, North Hollywood, California. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. Events 627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II 's Persian Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. North Hollywood is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles California. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.
Differences from the book
In converting a very complex book into a play lasting 1–2 hours (depending on version) it was inevitable that some elements would have to be left out.
The biggest change is that the Electric Monk is left out completely. Apart from the difficulty of having a character on a horse in a stageplay, a large amount of the book concerning the monk is purely descriptive with little dialogue so he had to go. This in itself has knock-on effects for other characters and a further major change is that Michael Wenton-Weakes now becomes the murderer of Gordon Way.
The book appears to take place in an alternate universe whereas the play is in our universe and the paradoxes regarding Bach and Coleridge do not exist. A paradox is a true statement or group of statements that leads to a Contradiction or a situation which defies intuition; or inversely WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( 21 October 1772 &ndash 25 July 1834) was an English Poet, Critic and philosopher
Another problem exists in the scene where Dirk and Richard are walking along the bank of the Grand Union Canal and Richard is supposed to dive in the canal when he hears the words "My old maiden Aunt who lived in Winnipeg". The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Canals are artificial channels for water There are two types of canals water conveyance canals which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water and Waterways cousin in Kinship terminology is a relative with whom one shares a common Ancestor, but in modern usage the term is rarely used when referring to a Winnipeg (ˈwɪnɨpɛg is the capital and largest city in the Canadian province of Manitoba, and 7th largest municipality in Canada with a population It would be rather difficult to have a canal on stage so this replaced by Richard dancing the Bossa Nova and many people remember this as the one of the funniest parts of the play.
External links
- The "Official" Dirk Site - now only available on archive
- The Old Gaol Theatre Company - see under 'past productions'
- The Road Theatre Company Production
- Douglasadams.info Dirk Gently section
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