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Brave New World (Dramatized)
- Narrated by: Aldous Huxley
- Length: 1 hr
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Brave New World (Dramatized)
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Summary
The CBS Radio Workshop was an experimental series of productions, subtitled "radio's distinguished series to man's imagination" that ran between 27 January 1956 and 22 September 1957. The premiere production was Brave New World, narrated by Huxley himself, with a complicated sound-effects score that evidently took a long time to construct, and comprised a ticking metronome, tom-tom beats, bubbling water, an air hose, a cow's moo, an oscillator, and three kinds of wine glasses clicking together. There was also a cast of some ten actors.
What was most evident about this two-part adaptation, now available on podcast, was the vocal contrasts: between Huxley the narrator, telling the story in a cut-glass marked RP accent interspersed with occasional Americanisms ("diaper" instead of "nappy," for instance); the Controller, who spoke throughout in jovial tones, appropriate for the Brave New World of perpetual happiness; and the Savage, the representative of feeling, emotional humanity - now consigned to a reserve in darkest Mexico - whose tones became increasingly desperate as he understood how mechanized the universe had become.
The Brave New World was a topsy-turvy environment, which despised institutions such as marriage and parenthood (any mention of such terms was greeted with scornful laughter), and advocated free love without passion. Everyone belonged to everyone else, and no one needed to think any more. Despite the Director's jovial protestations that this was the best of all possible worlds (shades of Voltaire's Candide), the doom-laden consequences of what had happened were suggested by Bernard Herrman's specially composed score, full of doom-laden chords, and metronome-like chimes played on the tubular bells. The adaptation was announced by the actor William Conrad - who subsequently found fame on television as the corpulent detective Cannon: at the end of the first episode he informed listeners in no uncertain terms about the moral purpose of Froug's adaptation. It was intended as a "warning against the destruction of moral standards, family life and the soul of man."
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What listeners say about Brave New World (Dramatized)
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Harley
- 11-07-21
An unexpected treat!
I love the work of Aldous Huxley, though somehow have still never read Brave New World! I'm a sucker for a good full-cast dramatisation.
Not only was it narrated by Huxley himself, and it being part of the iconic CBS radio workshop, but the music was composed by the great Bernard Hermann (most famous for his iconic score for the Hitchcock classic 'Psycho'), so that was a lovely surprise!
The story was superb (as I expected it would be), and the performances were absolutely superb!
A treat for any Huxley fan!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ida Fischer
- 07-07-21
Just loved it!
This radio play was like a little time traveling in the theatre of the mind. Splendidly written, and sadly it is so timely.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David Fisher
- 08-02-17
disappointed didn't realise it was abridged.
good to have a summary... but the acting was melodramatic, the music interesting and distracting.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Jo
- 20-11-18
Sanitised for radio audience giving too little of the story nuances.
I adore the dystopian world of A Brave New World. I love dramatisations. I loved the idea of hearing the author speak his words. I was sadly let down, and I don’t believe it is entirely own ludicrously high expectations.
The production is clearly dated with very limited sound effects and stilted dialog... both common to productions of the time. What I missed was the beautiful descriptors that I hoped Huxley would have given, but these details were missed throughout along with the anxiety, anguish and torment which I feel are the backbone of the book along with the simplified complexity of life.
I feel the words Sanitised for Radio are appropriate. I had hoped the author would have steered the narrative closer to the feeling of the book than he did. Overall view: Disappointed.
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2 people found this helpful