March 12, 2007

Liev Schreiber explosive in 'Talk Radio' on Broadway

Broadway's revival of the 1987 shock-jock play "Talk Radio" may not be as thought-pricking as the material was the first time around, but oh how the critics love Liev Schreiber in the starring role.

The New York Times calls him the "finest American theater actor of his generation."

The setting is a Cleveland radio station the night before the shock jock's show is about to explode nationally. But first, witness the implosion.

Written by Eric Bogosian, it's directed by Robert Falls.

"Talk Radio" plays through June 24 at the Longacre Theater, 220 W. 48th St., map Tickets are priced from $36.25 to $96.25.

The reviews:

New York Times - "With 'Talk Radio' Mr. Schreiber, who won a Tony two years ago for his performance in “Glengarry Glen Ross,” confirms his status as the finest American theater actor of his generation, a man capable of presenting clouded, complicated minds with searing clarity."

Variety - "'Enter angry' might be the stage direction that introduces the riveting Liev Schreiber as Cleveland shock jock Barry Champlain in 'Talk Radio.' 'Kill 'em all,' he snarls, wishing for a gun to mow down bad drivers. Many performances would have no place to go but down from that kind of boiling rage. But Schreiber proceeds, over the course of a 105-minute single act, to fuel the character's dyspeptic ferocity with bourbon, coffee, cigarettes, Pepto-Bismol and scalding contempt, ratcheting it up by agonizing degrees until the armor of his godlike superiority cracks to reveal the self-doubt and disgust beneath. Or is all that just part of Barry's performance too?"

Newsday - "'Talk Radio' -- an Off-Broadway hit in 1987 and an Oliver Stone movie in 1988 -- was never more than a one-note performance piece with human background. And though everyone in Robert Falls' production plays that note clearly, it still is. But Schreiber plays it with the magnificent conviction of someone who believes, at least for now, that it's the only one on the keyboard."

Daily News - "'Talk Radio' ran at the Public Theater in 1987, when the line 'Your fear, your own lives have become entertainment' must have seemed surprising. The shock value is gone. But it's more timely today than it was 20 years ago."

Newark Star-Ledger - "Wickedly funny in spots, "Talk Radio" comments on our national fascination with misery and scandal. Bogosian has touched up his text a little for this revival but wisely refrains from updating the talk with specific contemporary references to the likes of Anna Nicole Smith and recent nine-day wonders. By keeping his story in the late 1980s, Bogosian indirectly suggests how deeply self-absorption and schadenfreude have pervaded the American mindset."

Post - "For despite the energized, valiant efforts of director Robert Falls and the whole cast, quite apart from Schreiber's own deeply controlled virtuosity, the play, opening last night at the Longacre Theatre, today has the weary air of a one-trick pony, bristling with bells and whistles, stuck on a treadmill."

Associated Press - "Time has taken a toll on the play, particularly its phone conversations, which seem less edgy and more predictable than they did when 'Talk Radio' first was presented off-Broadway two decades ago. Fortunately, in this revival, which opened Sunday at Broadway's Longacre Theatre, Barry is portrayed by Liev Schreiber, an intense, idiosyncratic actor who is fun to watch."

Bloomberg - "'Talk Radio,' which Bogosian co-created with Ted Savinar, is much more than a mere laugh-fest: It is food for worrisome thought about what our heedless media are nurturing in us."

Sun - "A predictably unpredictable deejay with a gift for suffering fools gleefully, Barry sees himself as part court jester, part sin eater, part voice in the wilderness. His coworkers see him as part con man, part oracle, part train wreck. They're both right, and director Robert Falls reveals these and many other personae in Mr. Bogosian's pungent if occasionally flabby marathon of late-night verbal combat. Aided enormously by a terrific performance from Liev Schreiber, Mr. Falls's welloiled production sees to it that this infuriating opportunist in truth-teller's clothing remains wickedly entertaining company."

March 12, 2007 09:19 AM in Broadway

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