Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.life From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Low-tone version of real life on 'Radio' Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 11:28:29 EST Message-ID: \SE E;LIFE;THEATER \HD Low-tone version of real life on 'Radio' \BY Hap Erstein \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES Talk shows have become the new presidential campaign forum and the Federal Communications Commission has fined radio stations for shock jock Howard Stern's smutty talk. So Theater J is nothing if not timely with its production of Eric Bogosian's "Talk Radio," the portrait of a call-in talkmeister who is either very angry at society or a comsummate actor who manipulates his audience for fun and profit. Mr. Bogosian is the free-wheeling monologist who created such multicharacter works as "Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll" and "Drinking in America." With "Talk Radio," he inches away from performance artist toward playwright. This is so even though the best of "Talk Radio" are those one-man riffs and rants when bourbon-swilling Barry Champlain (the host of Cleveland's "Nighttalk with Barry Champlain") is going through his maniacal solo improvisations. Like a finely tuned automobile, Barry can go from 0 to 60 in seconds, riling the listeners, converting a boring call into an incendiary one. Picture a Barry Farber or a Morton Downey Jr. Gleefully, he manipulates and goads his masochistic callers, abusing them over the air with his cocky belligerence. And, he has just been informed, for this insufferable behavior he will be rewarded by being broadcast nationwide on 257 radio stations. If you encountered Barry Champlain on your radio, you would probably turn him off. On stage, he is a mesmerizing being that - like a terrible, bloody accident - you cannot turn away from. Although Mr. Bogosian still has plenty to learn about dramatic structure, he has certainly created a hypnotic, complex central character. While Theater J usually presents works with a Jewish theme, that is only tangentially the case with "Talk Radio." There are callers who taunt Champlain, attempting to expose him as Jewish. He responds at one point with an account of a visit to the Dachau concentration camp. The vignette is stirring, even though by seeing his facial expressions we realize it is meant quite cynically. "Talk Radio" certainly never goes as far as the subsequent, more interesting Oliver Stone film version that climaxes with the murder of Champlain - reminiscent of Denver talk jock Alan Berg - by an anti-Semitic white supremacist. What passes for plot here is that this is Champlain's last show before going national and, quite improbably, his producer is nervous that he not say anything too offensive to his potential new sponsors. Of course, being offensive is exactly what got Champlain to the brink of national stardom. The other incident that passes for an event is a call from Kent, a stoned voice that claims his girlfriend has just overdosed. Champlain calls his bluff, insists he is a liar and presses the tiny red button on his console that disconnects the call. Subsequent callers are outraged at such callousness, but when Kent later calls back, he admits the hoax. Again inprobably, Champlain invites Kent to come down and meet him on the air. The encounter is chillingly comic, thanks largely to a bracingly anarchic cameo by Eric Winick as the disaffected rock 'n' roller. Kent may understand Champlain best, for he senses that life, like the radio show, is one big cosmic joke. One can easily imagine an actor taking the role of Barry Champlain far further over the top than Joe Falocco does. He chooses to play it for its realism, letting us see the gears of Champlain's mind shift at will as he revs up for another verbal riff. It is a well-crafted performance, though not as dominant as the play needs. Director Martin Blank has pruned the script, cutting several peripheral characters, yet adding an intermission that brings the evening up to 90 minutes. On occasion, just in case we haven't gotten the point that this is a radio program, he dims the lighting, inviting us to just listen to the experience. Michael D'Addario solves the problems inherent in Theater J's miniscule space quite well with his thrust radio station set. By surrounding the playing area with chairs, he manages to squeeze in about 50 seats. As a slice of radio life, "Talk Radio" captures what you could hear by spinning through the airwaves on any given night. Ultimately, though, it is not nearly as outrageous as it wants to be and neither is this production. ***** TWO AND ONE-HALF WHAT: "Talk Radio" WHERE: Theater J, 1836 Jefferson Place NW WHEN: Through Nov. 29 TICKETS: $12.50 PHONE: 202/833-9665 This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM