Review: TALK RADIO at The Players At The Barker Playhouse
The production runs through May 17th.
As the night sets in the 1988 Cleveland, Ohio, Barry Champlain (played by Justin Pimentel), a late night radio host pours himself a tall mug of coffee and settles to work. Headphones on, cigarette in hand, and a loyal assistant at his side, he takes a call after call dishing out unsolicited advice and insults to the overly-eager listeners who seem just too enchanted to notice.
Talk Radio, a 1987 Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama by Eric Bogosian, came alive on stage at the Players at The Barker Playhouse through a sharp, fast-moving production directed by Terry Shea.
Just like a radio host’s shift, the show moves at lightning speed, following the conversations of Barry Champlain who is as enigmatic as he is exhausting to listen to. The topics shift from climate change to drug overdose to cats, within minutes. Nearly 40 years after the play was originally staged, the issues throughout the show still ring true today.
The set immediately drew me in, with the radio hosts’ desks, personal notes scribbled in profanity, and the window panel offering viewers a glimpse of callers, pouring their praise and grievances directly into Barry’s ears throughout the two-hour show.
The acting was so convincing, I felt like a fly on the wall of a city radio station in the 80s, watching corporate pressure, the crumbling relationships, and personal drama unfold in real time. Linda (Lauren Kieler) and Stu (Ian Hudgins) serve as a grounded counterbalance to Barry’s relentless energy, their natural performances making the station even more alive and lived-in.
In moments, when the lights went out and the spotlight landed on Barry’s colleagues, the action slowed down to almost to a halt. At times, the shift in pacing felt abrupt, especially compared to the accelerated rhythm of the station, but it also gave other characters a moment in the spotlight, revealing how much their lives have been altered by Barry. And just when I was starting to wonder where it all was headed, the action picked up again, with more problems requiring solutions.
Pungent and relevant, Talk Radio is a must-see for anyone who thinks the world has completely gone off the rails. Almost four decades after its creation, the problems in the play remain unsettlingly familiar, made vivid through great acting and scenery. Darkly funny and filled with substance, this kind of production stays with you, making you ponder the many ideas threaded throughout the play.
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