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Eric Bogosian talks radio Théâtre Insolite puts a Québécois spin on an American play by MATTHEW HAYS
The press conference was held after a standing ovation for the preview of the play, which is about one loudmouth talk radio DJ's descent into madness on the air. Bogosian was surrounded by translator Micheline Lanctôt, director Fernand Rainville, the play's star, stand-up comic Patrick Huard, and the rest of the cast. And while Bogosian et al. were queried about this ambitious effort by the new Quebec company Le Nouveau Théâtre Insolite, many of the questions involved comparisons between the new rendition and Oliver Stone's 1988 film version bearing the same name. "A lot of ideas that people have about Talk Radio are from the movie. Stone really emphasized the radical right wing in the U.S. in his film. Even though there are a lot of topical things discussed in the play, it's not my main area of interest. I'm concerned about what happens with the far right, but I'm even more concerned about what happens to those of us who work in the media in any kind of mass medium format, where we are constantly tempted to keep lowering our standards to get a bigger audience. That's what I wanted to look at." After heaping praise on Huard for his performance ("I don't think there are many people like Patrick who can do this role"), Bogosian got a bit defensive about the charge that his central character, Barry (né Bruno) Champlain, simply isn't sympathetic enough. "The play isn't about the people calling in, it's about the protagonist. But I can't make you identify with people you don't identify with. I have sympathy for him." Lanctôt's capable translation localizes the action nicely; she includes a few Quebec references. There are, however, no mentions of issues like sovereignty or partition, topics which predominate the province's own talk radio industry. Lanctôt correctly argued that highly charged issues surrounding national unity would alter the play too dramatically from its original state. And Bogosian's take on Quebec's woes? "From the outside it looks like a perennial debate that will never be resolved. It's like the abortion debate in the U.S.--there are tremendously strong feelings on both sides. It moves a couple of inches one way or the other, but it's impossible to imagine it moving all the way one way. Personally, I don't like seeing more fragmentation of groups of people, because a lot of energy gets lost with people fighting each other. But people have to follow their hearts. But it certainly seems more French than when I was here 15 years ago." Talk Radio runs until July 19 at the Monument-National. $35-$47. 871-2224, 790-1245 |
Eric Bogosian appeared very laid-back and terribly enthused as he appeared at the Monument-National last Wednesday. In town to promote the French-language production of his 1984 play, Talk Radio, the acclaimed counterculture playwright declared it much better than the original production.