Talk Radio (play) explained

Talk Radio
Genre:Drama
Premiere:May 28, 1987
Place:The Public Theater
Characters:Barry Champlain

Talk Radio is a 1987 Pulitzer Prize-nominated play written by Eric Bogosian, based on a concept by Bogosian and Tad Savinar.

Plot

The story of Barry Champlain, a Cleveland-area shock jock, on the eve of his radio show's national syndication.[1] [2]

History

The play, with Bogosian in the lead role, premiered off-Broadway at The Public Theater on May 28, 1987, in a production directed by Frederick Zollo. The production also featured John C. McGinley, Zach Grenier, Mark Metcalf, and Peter Onorati.[3]

1988 film adaptation

A film adaptation of Talk Radio, directed by Oliver Stone, was released one year later. Bogosian reprised the title role; however the setting was changed from Cleveland to Dallas. It also starred Alec Baldwin and one of the play's co-stars, John C. McGinley.[4]

Revivals

A production was staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2006, directed by Stewart Lee, featuring Mike McShane, Phil Nichol, and Stephen K. Amos.

Talk Radio made its Broadway premiere on March 11, 2007, in a production starring Liev Schreiber, and featuring Stephanie March and Peter Hermann (), and Sebastian Stan ().[1] The opening night cast also included Christine Pedi, Barbara Rosenblat, Adam Seitz, Marc Thompson, Kit Williamson, Cornell Womack and Christy Pusz.[5] The show made its final Broadway performance at the Longacre Theater on June 24, 2007.

Accolades

The 2007 show was directed by Tony Award-winner Robert Falls, and has received Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama League award nominations for Best Revival of Play and Best Actor in a Play.[6] Additionally, Schreiber was awarded the prestigious Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.

The 1987 original was one of the finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[7]

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://theater.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/theater/reviews/12talk.html?pagewanted=all The New York Times
  2. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-06-ca-286-story.html The Los Angeles Times
  3. http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?pagewanted=print&res=9B0DE7DF173FF93AA15756C0A961948260 NY Times review of 1987 production
  4. https://www.allmovie.com/movie/talk-radio-v48550 AllMovie
  5. https://soundcloud.com/american-theatre-wing/episode-144 Talk Radio playwright Eric Bogosian Downstage Center XM radio interview by the American Theatre Wing, March 2007
  6. https://www.tonyawards.com/nominees/?q=Talk%20Radio The Tony Award Nominations|The American Theatre Wing
  7. https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/eric-bogosian The Pulitzer Prizes