Susan Granger’s review of “Talk Radio” (Imperial Theater 2006-2007 season)
Liev Schreiber delivers such a riveting performance in Eric Bogosian’s “Talk Radio” that it can only be described as a virtuoso tour-de-force.
Schreiber plays Cleveland’s controversial nighttime radio personality Barry Champlain who abuses everyone around him but cannot get his own life together.. Striding into the studio, he’s furious about the traffic, vowing to buy “one of those Dirty Harry Magnums” and blast away at inconsiderate drivers. His ambitious station manager (Peter Hermann), pot-smoking producer (Michael Laurence) and assistant/sometimes bed partner (Stephanie March) hover in uneasy anticipation of the hours ahead.
Once the hostile, misogynistic Champlain grabs both his microphones, vitriol reigns. Callers are almost always insulted and summarily dismissed. Chain-smoking, Jack Daniels-swilling Champlain takes no prisoners. Among the nut jobs, hate mongers and genuine eccentrics, a transsexual is told her dilemma is a boring cliché; a tearful teenage girl is reprimanded that her recently discovered pregnancy by an out-of-work bum who drives a pick-up with the license plate “Stan 3” is her own fault; a disabled veteran is barely tolerated; and a stoned, testosterone-propelled teenage punk (Sebastian Stan), who has lied to Barry, is invited to drop by and appear as a guest.
Under the direction of Robert Falls, gravelly-voiced Schreiber exudes subtle anxiety and sinister angst while his co-workers deliver soliloquies explaining why they’re so loyal to him. Richard Woodbury’s superb sound design is an integral ingredient.
For those who remember, back in 1988, Oliver Stone directed the screen adaptation starring Eric Bogosian as the obnoxious Barry Champlain.
With contrived reality programming dominating the airwaves, this revival of “Talk Radio” is as pungent and relevant as it was back in 1987, when it first stunned Broadway audiences.