VOICE:

Ladies and gentlemen, the distinguished author, Mr. Aldous Huxley.

HUXLEY:

"Brave New World" is a fantastic parable about the dehumanization of human beings. In the negative utopia described in my story, man has been subordinated to his own inventions. Science, technology, social organization -- 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 six hundred years in the future, but at the most two hundred. The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance.

MUSIC:

BRIEF INTRODUCTION ... FUTURISTIC

VOICE:

CBS Radio, a division of the Columbia Broadcasting System and its two hundred seventeen affiliated stations, present the premiere broadcast of THE CBS RADIO WORKSHOP, radio's distinguished series dedicated to man's imagination -- the theater of the mind.

MUSIC:

BRIEF TRANSITION

VOICE:

Tonight, Part One of two half-hour programs devoted to one of the world's 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 Herrmann.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION ... THEN IN BG, OUT BEHIND HUXLEY--

SOUND:

LAB BACKGROUND ... HISSING AND GURGLING

HUXLEY:

This is Aldous Huxley and these are the sounds of the brave new world, of test tube and decanter, of hissing injectors and gurgling blood substitute. The year is A.F. Six Thirty-Two, six hundred and thirty-two years After Ford. We are inside the London Hatchery and Conditioning Center and this is the fertilizing room, an enormous laboratory where the temperature is never allowed to fall below ninety-eight-point-six. And here comes the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning in person, bringing with him a group of young students.

DIRECTOR:

Tomorrow, you'll be settling down to serious work. Today I just want to give you a general idea of things. These are the incubators and here is the week's supply of ova, kept at blood heat. Er, come along, boys.

SOUND:

STUDENTS MURMUR ... THEIR STEPS THROUGH THE LAB

DIRECTOR:

Now here we immerse the eggs into a warm bouillon containing free-swimming spermatozoa. Immersion continues until the eggs are all fertilized. Ah! and over here-- Here is where we bottle the Alphas and Betas. In short, gentlemen, the perfect process for manufacturing healthy babies. Are there any questions?

SOUND:

STUDENTS MURMUR

STUDENT:

Uh, sir, will you explain the Bokanovsky process?

DIRECTOR:

I'm glad you asked that. Students, take this down.

SOUND:

STUDENTS MURMUR AND TAKE OUT NOTEBOOKS

DIRECTOR:

Bokanovsky's process. Where in olden times, one egg made one embryo which made one baby, today we've improved on all that. Now the egg will bud -- will divide -- from eight to ninety-six buds, and every bud will grow into a perfectly formed embryo, and every embryo into a mature baby -- making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before. Progress!

SOUND:

STUDENTS MURMUR AGREEMENT

STUDENT:

But, uh, what advantage is it, sir? Uh, I mean, uh--

DIRECTOR:

Oh, my good boy, can't you see? Where in olden times nature allowed us only to have twins or perhaps triplets or so, today we can create scores -- yes, scores! -- of identical individuals. We can manufacture men and women in uniform batches. Think of it! An entire factory staffed with the product of one single egg -- ninety-six identical individuals working ninety-six identical machines. At last, society really knows where it stands.

SOUND:

STUDENTS MURMUR ADMIRINGLY ("It's marvelous.")

DIRECTOR:

(REVERENTLY) Remember, it was Our Ford who gave us the concept of the assembly line when he was on earth many centuries ago.

SOUND:

A FEW STUDENTS QUIETLY MURMUR A REVERENT OATH TO THEMSELVES: "OUR FORD."

DIRECTOR:

And now, boys, we will go up to the Bottling Room where we shall see how we create each class of society -- Alphas, Betas, Deltas, et cetera. Come with me.

SOUND:

STUDENTS MURMUR ... THEIR STEPS THROUGH THE LAB TO LENINA

DIRECTOR:

(GREETING) Well, Lenina!

LENINA:

(PLEASANTLY SURPRISED) Oh, Director!

DIRECTOR:

(CHUCKLES) Charming, charming.

SOUND:

DIRECTOR QUICKLY PATS LENINA AFFECTIONATELY ON HER REAR SIX TIMES

DIRECTOR:

Ah-- What are you injecting into our embryos today, my dear? Typhoid antitoxins?

LENINA:

Yes, sir.

DIRECTOR:

Are you, uh, busy this afternoon?

LENINA:

Oh, not after five, sir.

DIRECTOR:

Good! Suppose we get together then -- on the roof?

LENINA:

That would be fine.

DIRECTOR:

I've admired you for some time, Lenina. I'm looking forward to a closer acquaintance.

LENINA:

Thank you, sir.

DIRECTOR:

(UP, TO STUDENTS) And now, boys, we're off to the Bottling Room!

SOUND:

STUDENTS' STEPS EXIT THE LAB

FANNY:

(INHALES, IMPRESSED) You are a lucky girl! The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning!

LENINA:

Oh, hello, Fanny.

FANNY:

Oh, you can trust the Director to be the perfect gentleman. I saw him pat you.

LENINA:

He wants me.

FANNY:

You see? That shows what he stands for -- the strictest conventionality. And it's about time you started belonging to someone else, my dear.

LENINA:

But I like Henry Foster. We've only been with each other four months.

FANNY:

Four months?! Well, what would the District World Controller say? You know how he disapproves of anything intense or long-drawn. And it isn't as though there were anything painful or disagreeable about being with one or two other men besides Henry. After all, everyone belongs to everyone else.

LENINA:

You're quite right, Fanny. As usual.

FANNY:

Good girl!

LENINA:

Fanny? Do you know Bernard Marx?

FANNY:

(INHALES, SCANDALIZED) Bernard [Marx? You don't mean to say--?]

LENINA:

Well, why not? Bernard's an Alpha-Plus. Besides, he asked me to go to New Mexico, to the Savage Reservation with him.

FANNY:

But his reputation?! They say he doesn't like Obstacle Golf.

LENINA:

(DISMISSIVE) Oh, "they say," "they say."

FANNY:

And that he spends most of his time by himself alone. They say somebody made a mistake when he was still in the bottle -- thought he was a Gamma and put alcohol into his blood substitute. That's why he's so stunted.

LENINA:

Oh, what nonsense.

FANNY:

Well, very well, Lenina. It's your life, my dear. But I think you're heading for trouble.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

SOUND:

BOTTLING ROOM BACKGROUND

DIRECTOR:

And here we have the Bottling Room. Little embryos, carefully bottled, being rocked gently to and fro as they did in olden days when carried by their mothers.

SOUND:

STUDENTS GASP AND MURMUR

DIRECTOR:

(MILD ADMONISHMENT) Now, boys, you must learn to distinguish between smut and science. I'm going to use that word again. As scientists of tomorrow, you must learn to cope with it. (POINTEDLY) Mother!

SOUND:

ONLY A FEW STUDENTS GASP, COUGH IN EMBARRASSMENT, AND MURMUR

DIRECTOR:

There. That's better. As a matter of fact, there is an area in our world where humans are still viviparous -- still give birth to their children -- the Savage Reservation in New Mexico. I, uh, visited there once myself many years ago. Dreadful, filthy place. Naturally, civilization has improved on all that. (RESUMES TOUR) Ah! It is here we control the embryos' growth -- each batch carefully regulated to produce the exact class of citizen we desire. And here is our Mr. Henry Foster, in charge of bottling. Oh, Henry?

HENRY:

Yes, sir?

DIRECTOR:

Please explain the process to the students.

HENRY:

Oh, delighted, sir.

DIRECTOR:

By the way, Henry, before you begin -- I made a date with Lenina Crowne this afternoon.

HENRY:

Oh, really? I'm delighted, sir. I'm sure you'll enjoy belonging to her.

DIRECTOR:

Good. Very pneumatic girl. Now please proceed.

HENRY:

This way, gentlemen.

SOUND:

STUDENTS' STEPS THROUGH THE ROOM

HENRY:

Here, we advance the process. One by one, the eggs are transferred from their test tubes into these larger decanters and moved along to the labelers -- carefully labeled as to heredity, date of fertilization, sex, name, serial number. Gentlemen, there are eighty-eight cubic feet of card index in this room.

SOUND:

STUDENTS MURMUR ("Amazing.") ... MORE STEPS THROUGH THE ROOM

HENRY:

Now, here is where we actually predestine and condition. Nothing is so unstabilizing to society as unhappy people. We avoid all that by preconditioning our embryos.

SOUND:

STUDENTS MURMUR ... MORE STEPS THROUGH THE ROOM

HENRY:

And now we are entering the Heat Conditioning Room -- hot tunnels alternating with cool tunnels. Exposure to cold is accompanied by exposure to X-rays. By the time these babies are decanted, they have a perfect horror of cold. Thus they are perfectly prepared to emigrate to the tropics to be miners and acetate silk spinners and steel workers.

DIRECTOR:

(SENTENTIOUS) And that-- That is the secret of happiness and virtue -- liking what you have got to do. All conditioning aims at that -- making people like their unescapable social destiny. (SEES THE TIME) Oh, ten to three, boys. Time to visit the nurseries.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

HUXLEY:

And so the director continued on his tour. Meanwhile, in his rooms high above the city, Bernard Marx nervously paced the floor.

BERNARD:

I'm taking Lenina Crowne to New Mexico with me, Helmholtz -- to the Savage Reservation.

HELMHOLTZ:

Well it's about time.

BERNARD:

What you mean by that?

HELMHOLTZ:

I'll be frank, Bernard. There's been a lot of talk about your behavior at the College of Emotional Engineering. Of course, I've been defending you, but--

BERNARD:

(ANNOYED) And I'm supposed to be grateful? Because you're a successful feelies writer? Because you're tall, well-built, have all the girls you want?

HELMHOLTZ:

(WITH A CHUCKLE) Oh, Bernard. Now you know how I feel. (MORE SERIOUS) I want to write. I mean seriously, not slogans or feelies. I - I want to write something important.

BERNARD:

(SYMPATHETIC) Oh.

HELMHOLTZ:

Lately I've been cutting out my committees -- and my girls. The director called me in just the other day.

BERNARD:

Are you in trouble, too?

HELMHOLTZ:

There's a poem I wrote -- too emotional, he said.

BERNARD:

Hm.

HELMHOLTZ:

He gave me the lecture about being an Alpha-Plus, about remembering to behave "even as a little infant."

BERNARD:

I know. I tried to explain to Lenina, but she doesn't understand. Or won't understand. All those other men she belongs to -- Henry Foster, Benito Hoover -- they treat her like - like a side of beef; it's disgusting.

HELMHOLTZ:

It's socially proper. We share and we share alike, remember?

BERNARD:

But I want her for myself, alone.

HELMHOLTZ:

Bernard, you're my closest friend. Now, you listen to me. You can't win this way. Follow the rules, play the game, be happy.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

HUXLEY:

The nursery was on the fifth floor. The sign over the door said, "Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning Room." It was a large bare room, very bright and sunny. Half a dozen nurses, trousered and jacketed in the regulation white viscose-linen uniform, were engaged in setting out bowls of roses in a long row across the floor. The nurses stiffen to attention as the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning came in, followed by his students.

SOUND:

DURING ABOVE, STUDENTS' STEPS ENTER ROOM ... NURSES' STEPS IN AGREEMENT WITH FOLLOWING--

DIRECTOR:

(TO NURSES) Set out the books!

HUXLEY:

In silence, the nurses obeyed his command. Between the rose bowls, the books were duly set out.

DIRECTOR:

Now bring in the children!

HUXLEY:

They hurried out of the room and returned in a moment, each pushing a kind of tall dumbwaiter, laden on all its four wire-knitted shelves with eight-month-old babies, all exactly alike -- a Bokanovsky group -- and all, since their caste was Delta, dressed in khaki diapers.

SOUND:

DURING ABOVE, FADE IN THE MURMURING AND GOO-GOOING OF BABIES ... CONTINUES IN BG

DIRECTOR:

Put them down on the floor!

SOUND:

BABIES PLACED ON FLOOR

DIRECTOR:

Now turn them so they can see the flowers and books!

SOUND:

BABIES TURNED ... BABIES FALL SILENT

HUXLEY:

Turned, the babies at once fell silent, then began to crawl towards those clusters of sleek colors, those shapes so gay and brilliant.

SOUND:

BABIES CRAWL, SQUEAL, GURGLE, AND TWITTER ... THEN IN BG

HUXLEY:

From the ranks of the babies came little squeals of excitement, gurgles, and twitterings of pleasure. The swiftest crawlers were already at their goal. Small hands reached out uncertainly -- touched, grasped -- unpetaling the roses, trampling the illuminated pages of the books.

DIRECTOR:

Watch carefully, students! (TO NURSES) All right, nurses! Pull the lever!

SOUND:

VIOLENT EXPLOSION! BABIES PANIC, SCREAM, WAIL! SHRILL SIREN!

DIRECTOR:

And now we proceed to rub in the lesson with a mild electric shock!

SOUND:

CRACKLE! OF ELECTRICITY ... BABIES CONTINUE TO SCREAM IN TERROR

DIRECTOR:

That's enough!

SOUND:

ELECTRICITY STOPS ... BABIES CONTINUE TO HOWL

DIRECTOR:

(PAUSE) All right, take them away, nurses!

SOUND:

NURSES' STEPS AS THEY WHEEL THE WEEPING BABIES AWAY

DIRECTOR:

(TO STUDENTS) Observe! Henceforth, books and flowers will be associated in their minds with loud unpleasant noises and electric shock -- and, after two hundred repetitions of the same or a similar lesson, will be wedded forever. What man has joined, nature is powerless to put asunder. They'll be safe from books and botany all their lives.

STUDENT:

But, sir, since these are lower-caste children anyway and will never read, why bother to condition them against flowers?

DIRECTOR:

Simple economics. If Gammas, Deltas, or even Epsilons like flowers and nature, soon you'd see them wasting their time visiting the countryside. And of what economic use is that? (LIGHTLY) A love of nature keeps no factories busy.

SOUND:

A FEW STUDENTS CHUCKLE

DIRECTOR:

It was decided to abolish it, at least among the lower classes. Er, any further questions?

STUDENT:

Uh, sir, would you tell us about sleep teaching?

DIRECTOR:

I'm glad you asked that. The most ingenious development of all. Sleep teaching is given to all our children as they grow to maturity. A little voice murmurs slogans in their ear all the night long while they sleep. Of course, it's useless for teaching, but as a method for giving post-hypnotic suggestions, it is invaluable. It's what conditions our minds to love our future role in life. Now, boys, er, tell me some the lessons we've all learned through sleep teaching.

STUDENT:

"A gram is better than a damn."

DIRECTOR:

A good example! We have learned to take a gram of soma whenever we feel out of sorts. Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly hallucinant. It transports our minds into a beautiful sleep filled with wonderful images. It gives a - a "soma-holiday," thus preventing unnecessary impulses such as anger, jealousy, envy, anxiety. Uh, next?

STUDENT:

Uh, "ending is better than mending."

SOUND:

STUDENTS MURMUR AGREEMENT

DIRECTOR:

Good! It's better to throw away something than to repair it. New clothing, new possessions keep our factories humming and make us happier. Next?

STUDENT:

(GENIAL) "I'm glad I'm not a Gamma!"

DIRECTOR:

Ahhh, yes! We're all taught in our sleep to enjoy our own caste, whatever it may be. Gammas are taught to think, "I'm glad I'm not an Epsilon." Betas learn to be glad they're not Deltas or Gammas.

STUDENT:

And glad they're not Alphas because we Alphas sometimes have to use our minds -- and that's very painful.

SOUND:

STUDENTS LAUGH

DIRECTOR:

That's very good! Very good indeed! Well, students, I think our tour is over for today. I'm sure most of you have dates with pneumatic young ladies; some, of course, will be wanting to get in a game of Obstacle Golf. But, uh, before we finish I'd like to add a few footnotes to the things you've seen today. Today, we have a controlled society, a happy society. We have stability. Ah, there was a time when these things did not exist.

STUDENT:

Didn't people grow old and feeble in those days, sir?

DIRECTOR:

Indeed they did. Old men in the bad old days used to renounce, retire, take to religion, spend their time reading, thinking-- (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?) Thinking!

SOUND:

STUDENTS GROAN UNHAPPILY

DIRECTOR:

Now such is progress, at sixty we have the tastes and the powers of a seventeen-year-old. Why, the old men have no time, no leisure from pleasure, not a moment to sit down and think. They're much too busy scampering from feely to feely, from girl to pneumatic girl.

STUDENT:

(MURMURS APPRECIATIVELY)

DIRECTOR:

Fortunate boys, no pains have been spared to make your lives emotionally easy; to preserve you, as far as possible, from having emotions at all. (REVERENTLY) "Ford's in his flivver, all's well with the world."

STUDENTS:

(SOLEMNLY, IN UNISON) "Ford's in his flivver, all's well with the world."

HUXLEY:

And solemnly and devoutly they made the sign of the T -- and hurried off to join their fellow citizens at play.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

HUXLEY:

In spite of Fanny's dire warnings, Lenina Crowne made a date that evening with the eccentric Mr. Marx -- partly to show Fanny her courage and partly because she was curious.

SOUND:

HUSHED WHOOSH! OF WINDS AND HELICOPTER ... IN BG

HUXLEY:

When they were safely in their helicopter and climbing above the city, she turned to him.

LENINA:

Shall we play Escalator Squash or go to the feelies?

BERNARD:

Escalator Squash is a waste of time.

LENINA:

But what else is time for? All right then, let's go to the feelies. You know, they're showing "Love on a Bearskin Rug" and everyone says it's terribly exciting! You can actually feel--

BERNARD:

Lenina, please. Couldn't we just go for a walk and be alone together?

LENINA:

(CLUELESS) But, Bernard, we'll be alone all night.

BERNARD:

I - I meant alone - for talking.

LENINA:

Talking? Well, what about? Oh, you're beginning to feel nasty, I can tell. Take a soma, Bernard.

BERNARD:

(CURT) I'd rather be myself -- myself and nasty, not somebody else, however jolly.

LENINA:

A gram in time saves nine.

BERNARD:

Oh, for Ford's sake, be quiet.

LENINA:

Bernard--

BERNARD:

Lenina, don't you ever want to be just you -- not enslaved by your own conditioning -- to be free?

LENINA:

But I am free. I'm free to have the most wonderful time! Everybody's happy nowadays.

BERNARD:

But wouldn't you like to be free to be happy in your own way and not somebody else's?

LENINA:

I simply don't understand you. (BEAT) Bernard, do you really like me? Everyone says I'm awfully pneumatic.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

HUXLEY:

Eventually Bernard took Lenina to the Westminster Abbey Cabaret where Calvin Stopes and His Sixteen Sexophonists were playing. Also featured was London's finest Scent and Color organ and all the latest synthetic music. With the aid of four soma tablets, Bernard managed to spend a successful evening with the girl, and the next morning he agreed to apply at once for a permit to visit the Savage Reservation. He was quite nervous as he stood before the large desk of the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning.

DIRECTOR:

Oh, going to take Lenina Crowne, I see.

BERNARD:

Yes, sir.

DIRECTOR:

Very pneumatic.

BERNARD:

(UNCOMFORTABLY) Ah, yes, sir.

DIRECTOR:

New Mexico reservation-- How long ago was it? Let me see. Twenty, twenty-five years. Hmm. I must have been your age then.

BERNARD:

(PUZZLED) Sir?

DIRECTOR:

I had the same idea as you. Wanted to have a look at the savages. Got a permit for New Mexico and went there for my summer holiday, with my girl of the moment. She was a Beta-Minus, I think. Oh, yes. She had yellow hair and was especially pneumatic. Well, it was terrible. We rode about on horses and all that and - and the last day of our stay, she got lost -- somewhere in those horrid mountains. Lost! We never did find her, poor girl. Must've fallen in some crevice. Yes, we searched for days, but no luck. Oh, miserable trip.

BERNARD:

(SYMPATHETIC) You must have had a terrible shock.

DIRECTOR:

What? Oh, don't imagine there was anything unethical about it; nothing emotional or long-drawn. It was all perfectly healthy and normal.

BERNARD:

I'm sure it was, sir.

DIRECTOR:

What's that? Oh! (VERY PLEASANT) Mr. Marx, I should like to take this opportunity of saying I'm not at all pleased with the reports I've received of your behavior outside working hours. Alphas are so conditioned that they do not have to be infantile in their emotional behavior, but that is all the more reason for their making a special effort to conform. And so, Mr. Marx, I give you fair warning--

BERNARD:

Er, yes, sir.

DIRECTOR:

(CHEERFUL) If ever I again hear of any lapse from a proper standard of infantile decorum, I shall ask for your transference to a Sub-Center, preferably to Iceland. Good morning!

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

HUXLEY:

The journey was quite uneventful. The Blue Pacific Rocket lost four minutes in a tornado over Texas, but was able to land at Santa Fe less than forty seconds behind schedule. Lenina and Bernard slept that night at Santa Fe and Lenina was very happy.

LENINA:

Imagine! Sixty Escalator Squash racket courts in the hotel! And Obstacle and Electro-magnetic Golf, too! Oh, Bernard, it's simply too lovely!

BERNARD:

Er, there will be no Scent Organs, television, or even hot water once we get out on the reservation.

LENINA:

I can stand it; you'll see. (ADMIRING) Only, progress is lovely, isn't it?

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

HUXLEY:

They took a rocket ship into the interior and from there they traveled on horseback. And all Bernard could think about was Iceland and how cold and barren it would be. The director's warning had made him even quieter and more sullen than usual. And then, that evening, they reached their destination. Before them was the village of Malpais, situated on a mesa; adobe hovels growing out of the stony ground, dust and squalor, and the smell of wood smoke.

SOUND:

DURING ABOVE, FADE IN NOCTURNAL BACKGROUND ... WIND AND CRICKETS, ET CETERA

LENINA:

What an awful place. I don't like it. Who's that man coming toward us?

BERNARD:

He's to be our guide.

LENINA:

I'm frightened, Bernard.

BERNARD:

Quiet.

LENINA:

We shouldn't have come.

JOHN:

Oh, good morrow. You're civilized, aren't you? You come from outside? From the Other Place?

BERNARD:

My name is Bernard Marx. This is Lenina Crowne.

LENINA:

(MURMURED GREETING) Hmm.

JOHN:

My name is John. Come with me.

SOUND:

THEIR FOOTSTEPS TO HUT, IN BG--

LENINA:

He speaks English. That's strange.

BERNARD:

Probably trained as a guide.

LENINA:

Where is he leading us?

BERNARD:

To that hut, I believe. There seems to be some sort of activity over there.

SOUND:

DURING ABOVE, FADE IN CROWD OF SAVAGES CHANTING AND BEATING DRUMS ... THEN IN BG

LENINA:

(ASTONISHED) Orgy-porgy! Why, it's like our lower-caste community sing. Only, look! Now they're beating themselves with whips! Oh, no! Bernard!

BERNARD:

It's got something to do with their religion. What a wonderful intensity of feeling it must generate. I often think one may have missed something in not having passions like that.

LENINA:

Nonsense! Bernard, what's wrong with that man?

BERNARD:

Where? Oh. Well, he's just old, that's all.

LENINA:

Old? But - but we don't look like that when we're old! He's so - wrinkled. So-- Oh, it's horrible!

BERNARD:

That's because we age all at once. We stay seventeen until we're sixty or so, and then--

LENINA:

And then we die and they burn our bodies and recover our phosphorus for the good of the World State, just as it should be. But this-- (BIG GASP!)

BERNARD:

What is it?

LENINA:

(HORRIFIED) That - that woman! Oh, Bernard, no! Take me away, take me away!

BERNARD:

She's only nursing her baby, Lenina. That's her child; she's the mother.

LENINA:

Bernard, how can you be so vulgar? (NAUSEATED) I - I think I'll be sick. Please, Bernard, anywhere! Anywhere!

JOHN:

Is something wrong?

BERNARD:

I think we'd better take Lenina inside.

JOHN:

Over here. Follow me.

SOUND:

THEIR FOOTSTEPS TO JOHN'S NEARBY HOME ... CROWD NOISE STARTS TO FADE

LENINA:

(HIGHLY DISTRESSED) My soma! I'm out of soma! Bernard--?

BERNARD:

I'm sorry, Lenina. I didn't bring any.

LENINA:

(UNHAPPY) Ohhhh--

JOHN:

Here. Inside. This is my home.

SOUND:

CROWD NOISE AND DRUMS OUT AS THEIR FOOTSTEPS ENTER JOHN'S HOME

JOHN:

This is my home. You are welcome to remain here.

LINDA:

(OFF) John? John?

JOHN:

Yes, mother?

LENINA:

(STARTLED) Mother? (GASPS)

JOHN:

These are people from the outside, mother. They have come to see the reservation.

LINDA:

(APPROACHES, EXCITED) From the Other Place? You're from the Other Place!

LENINA:

(NERVOUS) Don't come near me!

LINDA:

But don't you see? I'm from there, too. I'm civilized! I don't belong here. It - it's all a terrible mistake.

JOHN:

(TO BERNARD AND LENINA, AN INTRODUCTION) This is my mother, Linda.

BERNARD:

(TO LINDA) Uh, were you born here?

LINDA:

No! No, I tell you. I was decanted like normal people. Oh, thank Ford someone has come. At last, thank Ford.

LENINA:

Bernard! Bernard, please, keep her away.

BERNARD:

Could you tell us about yourself, please?

LINDA:

(INCREASINGLY TEARFUL) Well, I came here twenty-five years ago with a man. His name was Thomas. We went riding together -- on - on horses! There was a terrible storm. I got lost -- lost in this horrible place. It was the last day of our stay. He left me -- here -- alone!

BERNARD:

Lenina?

LENINA:

Yes?

BERNARD:

You will be interested to know that our Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning is named Thomas and that he came here twenty-five years ago.

LENINA:

No. Oh, no, no.

BERNARD:

And that--

LENINA:

It can't be!

BERNARD:

But it is. He told me so himself. (CHUCKLES, THEN LAUGHS) What a discovery! This boy-- This boy is our director's son! (LAUGHS) Our director is a father! (LAUGHS)

LENINA:

Oh, it's too horrible!

JOHN:

(CONFUSED) Mother, what is he saying?

BERNARD:

(CHUCKLES, TO HIMSELF) Iceland. Iceland, indeed.

LENINA:

Bernard, stop it!

BERNARD:

(TO HIMSELF) Well, we'll see who tells who where to go now. (BEAT, PLEASANTLY) Er, John?

JOHN:

Yes, sir?

BERNARD:

How would you and your mother like to return to civilization?

LINDA:

(EXCITED, RAMBLING) Do you mean it? Oh, please, do you? Listen, they're crazy here. I was a Beta-Minus. I always worked in the Fertilizing Room; I was a good worker. But how can I tell them? They don't understand. (WITH DISGUST) They mend things. They don't know what a helicopter is. Or - or - or soma! They have babies -- like dogs! Oh, it's too revolting. (RELIEVED) Oh, thank Ford. If it hadn't been for my son -- for John-- What a comfort he has been to me.

LENINA:

(OFFENDED) Your son! How can you--? You, a Beta-Minus!

LINDA:

I know, I know! But he's been a comfort to me just the same. If only I'd had soma! (TO BERNARD) Oh, do you mean it? Will you take us back to civilization?

BERNARD:

Of course. We'll leave tomorrow. (CHUCKLES) You and your son -- back to civilization.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

HUXLEY:

And Bernard was as good as his word. That very night, he and John and his mother and Lenina took the Blue Pacific Rocket to London. For Lenina, it was a happy trip since she had taken four somas the minute they got back to the hotel. For John, it was a voyage of discovery. Poor Linda, his mother, could only weep for joy. But for Bernard it was a moment of triumph, triumph such as he had never known before.

MUSIC:

CURTAIN

VOICE:

"Brave New World," Part One, by Aldous Huxley -- a startling, shocking account of what can happen to our civilization six hundred years in the future -- and more importantly a warning to all of us against the destruction of moral standards, family life, and the soul of man. Join us next week when we will continue with Part Two of Aldous Huxley's terrifying forecast of the future, of what could become the brave new world -- presented on THE CBS RADIO WORKSHOP.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION ... THEN IN BG, UNTIL END

ANNOUNCER:

THE CBS RADIO WORKSHOP is produced and directed by William Froug. "Brave New World" was adapted for radio by Mr. Froug. Featured in the cast were Joseph Kearns, Bill Idelson, Gloria Henry, Charlotte Lawrence, Byron Kane, Sam Edwards, Jack Kruschen, Vic Perrin, and Lurene Tuttle. Original music composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann. This is the CBS Radio Network.