Talk Radio is a 1987 Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

-nominated play written by Eric Bogosian

Eric Bogosian

Eric Bogosian is an American actor, playwright, monologist, and novelist of Armenian descent.-Personal life:Bogosian, an Armenian-American, was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, the son of Edwina, a hairdresser and instructor, and Henry Bogosian, an accountant. After graduating from Oberlin College,...

, based on a concept by Bogosian and Tad Savinar. It centers around Barry Champlain, a Cleveland-area shock jock

Shock jock

Shock jock is a slang term used to describe a type of any radio broadcaster who attracts attention using humor that a significant portion of the listening audience may find offensive. The term is usually used pejoratively to describe provocative or irreverent broadcasters whose mannerisms,...

, on the eve of his radio show's national syndication.

The play, with Bogosian in the lead role, premiered off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 at The Public Theater on May 28, 1987, in a production directed by Frederick Zollo. The production also featured John C. McGinley

John C. McGinley

John Christopher McGinley is an American actor, most notable for his roles as Perry Cox in Scrubs, Bob Slydell in Office Space, Sergeant Red O'Neill in Oliver Stone's Platoon and Marv in Stone's Wall Street. He has also written and produced for television and film...

, Zach Grenier

Zach Grenier

Zach Grenier is an American actor who has worked in film, television and on stage.He appeared in the first season of the television show 24 as Carl Webb, was in Deadwood, and on several episodes of Law & Order...

, Mark Metcalf

Mark Metcalf

Mark Howes Metcalf is an American actor in both television and film.-Early life:Metcalf attended Westfield High School in Westfield, New Jersey.-Film and television work:...

, and John Onorati.

A film adaptation

Talk Radio (film)

Talk Radio is a 1988 American drama film, starring Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene and Leslie Hope. Directed by Oliver Stone, the film was based on the play by Eric Bogosian and Tad Savinar. Portions of the film and play were based on the assassination of radio host Alan Berg in 1984...

 of Talk Radio

Talk Radio (film)

Talk Radio is a 1988 American drama film, starring Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene and Leslie Hope. Directed by Oliver Stone, the film was based on the play by Eric Bogosian and Tad Savinar. Portions of the film and play were based on the assassination of radio host Alan Berg in 1984...

, directed by Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone

William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...

, was released in 1988.

A production was staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2006, directed by Stewart Lee

Stewart Lee

Stewart Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera...

, featuring Mike McShane

Mike McShane

Michael "Mike" McShane is an American actor, singer, and improvisational comedian who first became known through his appearances in the early 1990s on the British version of the television show Whose Line Is It Anyway?-Biography:...

, Phil Nichol

Phil Nichol

Phil Nichol is a Canadian comedian, singer-songwriter, and actor.-Comedy:Nichol was born in Scotland to a Scottish mother, but raised in Canada. He first found fame as a member of the musical comedy trio Corky and the Juice Pigs, known for the song " Eskimo"...

, and Stephen K. Amos

Stephen K. Amos

Stephen Kehinde Amos is a British stand-up comedian of Nigerian origin. A regular on the international comedy circuit, he is known for including his audience members during his shows...

.

Talk Radio made its Broadway premiere on March 11, 2007, in a production starring Liev Schreiber

Liev Schreiber

Isaac Liev Schreiber , commonly known as Liev Schreiber, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of...

, and featuring Law & Order: SVU stars Stephanie March

Stephanie March

Stephanie Caroline March is an American actress, best known for her current portrayal of Alexandra Cabot on the television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.-Early life:...

 and Peter Hermann

Peter Hermann

Peter Hermann is a German-American actor and writer. He is married to actress Mariska Hargitay, with whom he has three children.-Career:Hermann had brief stints on a variety of television shows that include the soap opera, Guiding Light , the ABC Family show, Beautiful People and the Lifetime...

, and The Covenant

The Covenant (film)

The Covenant is a 2006 American action supernatural thriller written by J. S. Cardone, directed by Renny Harlin, and starring Steven Strait, Taylor Kitsch, Toby Hemingway, Chace Crawford, Sebastian Stan, Laura Ramsey, and Jessica Lucas...

s Sebastian Stan

Sebastian Stan

Sebastian Stan is a Romanian-born American actor. He is best known for playing Prince Jack Benjamin on the television drama Kings and Carter Baizen on Gossip Girl.-Early life:...

. The opening night cast also included Christine Pedi

Christine Pedi

Christine Pedi is a television and theatre actress. She is also a cabaret performer and radio personality and younger cousin of the late Tom Pedi.-Theatre:BroadwayShe has appeared in three Broadway-theatre productions in New York City, New York....

, Barbara Rosenblat, Adam Seitz, Marc Thompson

Marc Thompson

Marc Thompson is an American voice actor who has worked with 4Kids Entertainment, NYAV Post and DuArt Film and Video. He lent his voice to Anthony DeMartino, Timothy O'Neill, Kevin Thompson and Charles "Upchuck" Ruttheimer III on the series Daria...

, Kit Williamson

Kit Williamson

Kit Williamson is an American actor. He was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi and attended Interlochen Arts Academy, an arts boarding school in Michigan. He currently lives in New York City and attends Fordham University...

, Cornell Womack and Christy Pusz. The show was directed by Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

-winner Robert Falls

Robert Falls

Robert Falls is an American theater director and the current Artistic Director of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.-Early years:Falls was born in Ashland, Illinois to Arthur Joseph Falls and Nancy Stribling...

, and has received Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama League

Drama League Award

The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing...

award nominations for Best Revival of Play and Best Actor in a Play. Additionally, Schreiber was awarded the prestigious Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance. The show made its final Broadway performance at the Longacre Theater (220 West 48th Street) on June 24, 2007.

In November 2007, Talk Radio made its Southeastern Premiere at the Mosaic Theatre, in Plantation, Florida, and in Israel, on December 2007 Talk Radio ('Sikhot Layla') is premiered by Gesher Theater.

Criticism

• Rossi, Umberto. “Acousmatic Presences: From DJs to Talk-Radio Hosts in American Fiction, Cinema, and Drama”, Mosaic, 42:1, March 2009, pp. 83–98.

External links

• Official Talk Radio on Broadway website
• NY Times review of 1987 production
• The Blog Apple review of the 2007 Broadway Revival
• Talk Radio playwright Eric Bogosian Downstage Center XM radio interview by the American Theatre Wing, March 2007