Radio Drama narrated by the Author

I was contemplating the world of Radio Dramas and stumbled upon this little gem yesterday. It’s an original recording of a Radio Drama of the Classic Dystopian Novel, “Brave New World” from 1956, narrated by the distinguished English author and intellectual, Mr Aldous Huxley. I thought some of you may enjoy this. I found it on a Youtube channel called Roman Styran. Let’s journey into the world of Classic Radio, a time of great imagination, experimentation and innovation.

CBS Radio Workshop – The THEATRE of The Mind

This two-part adaptation was the premiere broadcast of, The CBS Radio Workshop which was an experimental dramatic radio anthology series that aired on CBS from January 27, 1956, until September 22, 1957. It was part of a series called, “Theatre of The Mind”.

Part One

Aldous Huxley opens the drama, narrating as follows:

“Brave New World is a fantastic parable about the dehumanisation of human beings. In the Negative Utopia described in my story, man has been subordinated to his own inventions. Science, Technology, Social Organisation, these things have ceased to serve man, they have become his masters.

A quarter of a century has passed since the book was published. In that time, our world has taken so many steps in the wrong direction, that if I were writing today, I would date my story, not 600 years in the future, but at the most 200. The Price of Liberty and even of common Humanity is Eternal Vigilance.”

Introduction

Then follows an Introduction;

“CBS Radio, a division of the Columbia Broadcasting System and it’s 217 affiliated stations present the premiere broadcast of the CBS Radio Workshop. Radios distinguished series dedicated to Man’s Imagination – The THEATRE of The MIND.”

“Tonight Part 1 of 2 half hour programmes devoted to one of the worlds most shocking and famous novels. Aldous Huxley’s terrifying Forecast of the Future – BRAVE NEW WORLD. We are proud to have Mr Huxley as Narrator for these broadcasts. Original Music is composed and conducted by Bernard Herman.”

Then the Theatre Drama begins. Followed by Part 2.

Part Two

The video includes part 1 and 2 of the full Radio Drama. In part 2, Aldous Huxley continues…

“Brave New World is a Study of The Future as it may be, unless we are extremely careful. It depicts a society in which man has replaced Nature by Science, Morality by Drugs, Individuality by Total Conformity.

It is a hideous prospect, yet we seem determined to follow this path of self destruction. But Brave New World need not be our future. The choice, after all, is always in our own hands.”

You can listen to these while you do other stuff

The good thing about Radio Dramas or Audio books is you can listen to them while you do other stuff. But you can still completely absorb them. Whereas a video or movie commands your full attention and you must be sitting in front of it. I listened to this tonight.

Time Review, February 1956

I found a Time Review from February 6, 1956, a review the week it aired, referencing the sound:

“It took three radio sound men, a control-room engineer and five hours of hard work to create the sound that was heard for less than 30 seconds on the air. The sound consisted of a ticking metronome, tom-tom beats, bubbling water, air hose, cow moo, boing! (two types), oscillator, dripping water (two types) and three kinds of wine glasses clicking against each other. Judiciously blended and recorded on tape, the effect was still not quite right. Then the tape was played backward with a little echo added. That did it. The sound depicted the manufacturing of babies in the radio version of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.”

Nostalgia from the 1950s

This is a very nostalgic piece of audio and amazing to hear Aldous Huxley himself narrating it. For those of you who want a concentrated version of the book, that haven’t read the book or have and would like to hear it in this unique and theatrical fashion, this is highly recommended.

We need to ensure we never end up in a world like this

Brave New World, just how close are we to a world like this? With the changes in the last couple of years, with the moves towards transhumanism, science that cannot be questioned, medical tyranny, mass conformity, authoritarianism and technocracies of power, perhaps dangerously so…

This post is by Anne-Marie at http://www.supernaturalhippie.com