Talk Radio is based in part on the assassination of radio host Alan Berg, as well as the book, Talked to Death: The Life and Murder of Alan Berg by Stephen Singular. Its central character, Barry Champlain, is a controversial on-air radio “shock jock” doing what he does best: treating his late-night callers with contempt. But when his Cleveland-based program is considered for national syndication and his producer cautions him about offending sponsors, Barry defiantly responds and excoriates his audience...but they just keep calling.

The Story

The Reason

MALINDA L. BECKHAM, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

I first saw Talk Radio at the Chris Wilson Studio for actors in 1997. The part of Barry Champlain was played by George Brock and it stayed with me all these years. I knew that I would produce this play one day, but I wasn’t sure how or when. When we formed Dirt Dogs Theatre Co. it was quick to make the short list. I knew that staging this play in today’s society needed a different treatment, as times have changed quite a bit and social media has all but replaced the call-in talk show.

Barry insults his callers from behind a mic and today we insult each other from behind computer screens. This made me think about the impact that words have on others and how much easier it is to insult someone when we aren’t directly confronted by them. If the computer screen didn’t separate us, would we change our tune? I’m not sure that Barry Champlain would; however, I think our audiences might when they see how the callers respond to his harshness rather than just hear the callers over the speakers. Bringing these typically unseen callers out into the open was a must for this production and I hope that it brings a more meaningful element to Barry’s behavior.