On 3 October 2007, Mark L. Blackman wrote and submitted this review of the previous evening’s New York Review of Science Fiction Reading. Several technical mishaps prevented us from publishing it then, but we present it now because it’s interesting and because we’ve just learned that “The Star Pit” will be broadcast again on 30 November 2007 at 10PM EST on WBAI 99.5 FM. Our apologies for the delay, and our thanks to Mark for the write-up. Let’s also take this opportunity to remind our other readers that we welcome opinion pieces on most any genre related topic: we can’t be everywhere to review events, and we’d love to see your opinions of them.
On Tuesday 2 October 2007, Jim Freund curated the New York Review of Science Fiction Readings Series, which was a 40th anniversary celebration of the first broadcast of “The Star Pit.” Presented at the South Street Seaport Museum’s Melville Gallery, the commemoration featured a talk by Delany about the making of the radio drama, and a new performance of segments from the original work. In short, the audience of about 70 was treated to a glimpse of the relatively recent past and the far-distant future.
In opening remarks, Delany described the story as set in a time of quick interplanetary wars, interstellar (and intergalactic) travel, and “experimental ways of living with each other” (inspired by his communal living in the Heavenly Breakfast), and recounted how the radio adaptation was conceived and came together. Chip, as he’s known informally, grew up in the waning days of radio drama, so the idea appealed to him.
In 1967, Baird Searles, impressed by Delany’s novella “The Star Pit,” invited him to adapt the story for The Mind’s Eye Theatre, Searles’s ongoing series of radio dramas at New York’s WBAI-FM. (Searles’s opinion of the story was shared by many: “The Star Pit”—which was first published in the February 1967 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow—was subsequently nominated for the Hugo Award.)
The adaptation, rather than a formal play, took the form of a dramatized reading of the novella, with actors (Delany among them) delivering the dialog and Delany providing narrative, plus the addition of special effects. (One character, Alegra, is a projective telepath who transmits hallucinations; her scenes were accompanied by flutes. Scenes set in the immense starship repair hangar from which the story derives its title were augmented by echoes.) The ensuing radio drama, which aired in November of that year, was a landmark in its way, a sophisticated science fiction tale presented on air long after most radio stations had given up broadcasting drama. (The radio play, subsequently re-aired on WBAI several times, is available on-line at www.pseudopodium.org.)
As he had 40 years ago, Delany narrated and took the part of Vyme, the pit’s 42-year-old mechanic. Actress Lois Kagan Mingus (the great jazz bassist’s daughter-in-law) was alternately fun and touching as Alegra. (In a nice bit of coincidence, Lois’s husband, Charles Mingus III, had once produced a series of paintings based on “The Star Pit.”) Freund (who shouldn’t give up his early-morning job) read the part of Ratlit, a kid with a love-hate attitude toward the golden, the hormonally imbalanced humans who are the only ones capable of crossing intergalactic space without going insane or dying.
During a question-and-answer session that followed, Delany voiced a willingness to adapt other works for the radio, though preferring to do something original for the medium.
Afterward, as is customary, the guests and half of the audience adjourned to a nearby pub for dinner and conversation.
——Mark L. Blackman, 3 October 2007
[Edited 9 November 2007: Jim Freund notes that the evening may be heard in its entirety at this link.]