Talk Radio

This is one of the rare cases where I say the play just isn't as hip as the film. It's still a great performance by Liev Schrieber, but the other onstage actors are cardboard (the callers give him far more to work with). The stage version also breaks the rhythm and reality of a descent into madness with three monologues told by Barry's co-workers, directly to the audience. Everything they tell us is already apparent from Liev's excellent performance, from the jittery leg to the sultry radio voice. By the end of the show, Schrieber is rightfully a wreck, but the unamended script lacks the harder edge presented by a whirlwind of sequences in the film. It's gone from unrelenting to almost casual. I expected to be surprised more; instead I was just enthralled.

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Also blogged by: [Patrick]