REALITY UNLIMITED
By Robert Silverberg
It was to be the last word in theatre fun;
you experienced the action as if you were there.
The trouble was—the fun could become too real!
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy
August 1957
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
It was going to be the show of the century—absolutely the tops.
There was a line eight blocks long outside the theater—the theaterthat had been specially built to contain Ultrarama.
Paul Hendriks had been in line since early the morning before, and sohe was only a block or so from the still-unopened ticket-booth. Hiswife had come by from time to time, bringing sandwiches and coffee.Hendriks was determined to get a pair of tickets.
He turned to the man next to him. "Got the time?"
"Five to nine."
"That's what I thought. That means the ticket-office opens in fiveminutes." Hendriks rose on tiptoe and squinted ahead. "There must befive hundred people ahead of us."
"They say the theater holds five thousand."
"I know. And that you get the same effect no matter where you sit. Butstill, I'd like to be right down there in the front."
The other man nodded. "That goes for all of us."
Hendriks grinned. "You know, this is the first time I ever heard of anopening performance being managed right. I mean, thrown open for publicsale instead of being reserved for bigwigs."
"Damned public-spirited," the other agreed.
Suddenly the line began to edge forward.
"They're selling tickets!"
"The booth is open!"
About an hour later, Hendriks plunked down his twenty dollars beforethe efficient-looking girl in the ticket-cage and was handed a bulkyenvelope.
"These my tickets?"
"That's right, sir."
A little puzzled, but happy, he turned away and dug in the envelope.He pulled out, not the familiar pasteboards, but two costly-lookingsumptuous engraved invitations on thick stiff paper. They said:
You are invited
To the first showing anywhere in the world.
of
ULTRARAMA
the sensational new film process
realer than life!
Wednesday, April 25, 1973
at 8:00 PM
Clutching the invitations as if they were his leases on life, Hendriksstepped into the quiktrans and moments later stepped out again justoutside the door.
His wife was waiting for him with an expectant look on her face.
"Did you get them?"
"I sure did! Two engraved invitations, at ten bucks a throw."
"They'd better be worth it," she said anxiously.
"Didn't you see that line when you brought me breakfast? Eightblocks! Hundreds and hundreds of people all trying to get to see thefirst performance."
"That doesn't mean a thing," she said. "After all, no one's ever seenthe complete movie—"
"It's not a movie," he corrected.
"All right, the complete whatchamacallit. No one's ever seen thecomplete thing—not even the people who made it. So how do you knowit's good?"
"Believe me, honey, this is going to be the greatest ever!"
On Wednesday, April 25, 1973, at 7:30 in the evening, the Hendriksstood in the midst of a vast crowd that thronged the open plaza beforethe Ultrarama Theater. The theater itself was a towering edifice thathad been built just for this production; it was one of the world's mostimpressive buildings.
"All right, al