Vonnegut Home · Comments  

Between Time & Timbuktu In 1971 Kurt Vonnegut was commissioned to advise on and contribute to the NET Playhouse production of a collage of some of his previous writings called ''Between Time and Timbuktu: A Space Fantasy.'' The program aired on public television stations nationwide  March 13, 1972. The script, originally pieced together by David O'Dell, with photographs of the production by Jill Krementz, was published by Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence in 1972. Kurt Vonnegut added a preface to the text which is reprinted below right.

Cast (in order of appearance)
Stony Stevenson William Hickey
Contest Announcer Bruce Morrow
Mrs. Stevenson Dortha Duckworth
Walter Gesundheit Ray Goulding
Bud Williams, Jr. Bob Elliott
Col. Donald "Tex" Pirandello Franklin Cover
Sandy Abernathy Russell Morash
Dr. Bobby Denton John Devlin
Bokonon Kevin McCarthy
Island Girl Edie Lynch
Soldier Jerry Gershman
Dr. Paul Proteus James Sloyan
Prosecutor George Serries
Deaf Juror Ashley Westcott
Drunk John Peters
Miss Martin Helen Stenborg
Dr. Hoenikker Hurd Hatfield
General Dolph Sweet
Lead Caroler Harriet Hamilton
Policeman Sam Amato
Diana Moon Glampers Benay Venuta
First Stagehand Carlton Power
Larry Jean Sanocki
News Announcer Jack Shipley
Ballerina Alexis Hoff
Harrison Bergeron Avind Haerum
Short Order Cook Frank Dolan
Nancy Susan Sullivan
Lionel J. Howard Charles White
Announcer Phillip Bruns
Wanda June Ariane Munker
Hitler Page Johnson
Cemetery Gardener McIntyre Dixon

Awards. ''Between Time & Timbuktu'' received a 1973 Hugo Award nomination for Best Dramatic Presentation.

How Can You See 'Between Time' for Yourself? If you find yourself in Los Angeles or New York, you can arrange a viewing at the Museum of Television and Radio.

If you must handle a VHS tape, there is a rumor, unconfirmed, that there is a copy of the show available for check out in the Port Washington, NY public library.

or Prometheus-5:
a Space Fantasy

1971
.
from the printed screenplay's preface © 1972
KURT VONNEGUT: ''This book is said to have been written by me. And I did write it, too, pretty much -- over the past twenty-two years. But it would never have occurred to me to put my words in this particular order. That vision was received by some friendly people at National Educational Television in New York and at WGBH in Boston. With my permission, they took unrelated incidents from several of my stories, and they tacked them together to form a rough draft of a script for a ninety-minute TV show.

''I was reminded of the bizarre surgical experiments performed in the H.G. Wells tale The Island of Dr. Moreau. Dr. Moreau cut up all sorts of animals -- and he assembled grotesque new creatures from the parts.

''I began to fool around with the script myself. I grafted the head of a box turtle onto the neck of a giraffe, so to speak -- and so on. Amazingly, chillingly, hilariously, the impossible creature lived for a little while. It was clumsy, funny-looking, and almost pathetically eager to please.

''It had a soul, too, which was mainly supplied by an extraordinarily gifted actor my own age, William Hickey. Bill, played the part of the reluctant astronaut, Stony Stevenson. Since Stony was not a strongly motivated character, and since we weren't sure what he was supposed to represent anyway, we asked Bill to be himself. He demonstrated that Bill as Bill, adrift in time and space, was an enchanting human being.

''Hello, Bill.''

''My father loved the music of Kurt Weill, and he said one time, admiringly, that the music sounded as though it were written by an inspired amateur. My father was a professional architect. I think he came to resent the neatness and tightness and slickness which his professionalism (and his clients) imposed on his designs. He could never be slapdash and childish or passionately crude. He could never do what inspired amateurs did, which, among other things, was to leave a lot to Lady Luck.

''This script, it seems to me, is the work of professionals who yearned to be as charming as inspired amateurs can sometimes be. True, we hired the finest actors and technicians we could find. As for the meaning of the show, though, we left that to Lady Luck. She was good to us this time.''

>>> More

---
PBS BROADCAST:  Between Time & Timbuktu  ·  Vonnegut's Preface
RELATED SECTIONS: Dramatic Works  ·  Complete Writings
HARRISON BERGERON VIDEO:
CNN Feature

Home  ·  Site Web Designer  ·  Feedback, Comments
© 1997-2001 Chris Huber, Durham NC (USA)  ·  Last Updated 12/13/01

Also by Chris Huber: Whyaduck Productions  ·  Which Circle?