Burn Baby, Burn

There will never be a time in history when Ray Bradbury´s Fahrenheit 451 will be irrelevant. The grand old gentleman of letters wrote one of his most celebrated novels fifty-five years ago. It could have been written yesterday.

TV game shows and reality shows clutter our minds with nonsense. A culture with more pictures and fewer words sends us back to the cave painting era rather than to Shakespeare or Victor Hugo or…Bradbury.

But you are in luck. Ray Bradbury´s science fiction classic has come to life on stage at the Fremont Centre Theatre in Pasadena, presented by his own Pandemonium Theatre Company, and directed by Alan Neal Hubbs in such an exciting way, you will see the pages of Bradbury´s book come to life before your eyes. John Edw. Blankenchip designed the stark, yet arresting, sets.

In this bleak, futuristic time when books are outlawed, Guy Montag, played movingly by David Mauer, struggles with his increasing alarm of this Brave New World and his growing panic over the radical ideas creeping into his head. Ideas about what the world would be like if all those long lost books weren´t really gone.

So when Montag, a fireman of the future who has spent a decade burning books, meets an intelligent, home-schooled young girl, played poignantly by Jessica D. Stone, who has been taught by her father that there was a time when people weren´t afraid to exchange ideas, Montag rebels. Then the girl and her family disappear.

Montag tries to get his fearful and naive wife, played with wide-eyed perfection by Magenia Tovah, to join him in his rebellion and read one of the books he has stolen, but she succumbs to the Siren Song of that vast wasteland: television that literally plays on every wall throughout their modern, cold, and impersonal house. She cannot tear herself away from the reality show starring herself. Everybody gets their 15 minutes of fame in this future time.

Fire Chief Beatty, played with menacing resolve by Michael Pritchard, astounds Montag by telling him, he, too, has rescued books from the inferno. His house is piled high with these quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore. How can this be? questions Montag. To be caught with books in one´s possession means certain death. Beatty´s frosty reply: "I never read them," therefore it isn´t a crime. A chilling statement.

The only friend Guy Montag finds is Professor Faber, played brilliantly by Steven Robert Wollenberg, who gives Montag a listening device for his ear. Faber can hear every word said around Montag and can communicate to him through the device. Montag fears he will be trading one Big Brother for another, but Faber tells his new friend to have faith, listen to the words spoken in his ear, and make up his own mind. True freedom.

With the mechanical hound of hell on his heels, Montag tries to escape. Is there a future for him or is free thought gone forever? Go see the play and read the book.

Mr. Bradbury has said his story is not about censorship. It´s not about burning books and indoctrinating the population with one set of ideas. It´s about no ideas. Everything is provided by the government. No thinking necessary.

"We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal…, but everyone made equal..." is a line from the play. Let´s hope it´s only a play and not a premonition.

Great writing, great thinking, a great play. Don´t miss this one. The play runs through November 22. Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Fremont Centre Theatre, 1000 Fremont Ave. (at El Centro), South Pasadena, CA 91030. Abundant free parking behind theater.

Admission is $20. Seniors $15. Students $10. For reservations call: (323) 960-4451 or online: www.Plays411.com/raybradbury.

Mr. Bradbury spoke a few words before the play started on opening night. He mentioned writing the original short story he called "The Fireman" when he was 34 years old. Every magazine turned down the original story at the time, thinking it was too radical for publication. An up-and-coming publisher took a chance on the story and published it in three installments, paying Mr. Bradbury the whopping sum of $400. It was a wise move. The name of the publication: Playboy. Both parties did exceedingly well in their future.

As for the title of Mr. Bradbury´s famous story, he wondered at what temperature books started to burn. He called various college science departments, but none had an answer. He then thought to contact the fire department. After consulting a book that listed the various temperatures at which certain things caught fire, the fireman returned with the answer. Books burn at 451 degrees Fahrenheit. Bradbury thought it far more poetic to reverse the order of those words, hence his memorable title.

The Pulitzer Prize winning author made himself available to fans at a reception after the production. When asked if any more of his books have been turned into plays, the 88-year-old Mr. Bradbury´s face lit up and he said, "Dandelion Wine is currently in production in Russia." Also "Falling Upward" and "Lafayette, Farewell" have been staged. He mentioned, "They´re planning a new movie version of Fahrenheit 451." He wasn´t thrilled with Truffaut´s 1967 effort. He also has a new short story anthology coming out February of 2009, called We´ll Always Have Paris.

The forever young Mr. Bradbury is a National Treasure.