This autumn, the team behind No Villain return to the Old Red Lion with Eric Bogosian's Pulitzer Prize-nominated Talk Radio. Thirty years after its inaugural production in New York, this play explores the not-so-hidden prejudices in ‘80s America and the power of the media to manipulate events.
Barry Champlain is abrasive and forthright, the ultimate devil’s advocate, willing to argue just about any point. He lives for his radio show and the minor fame it brings him but his on-air persona is just that: a persona. Barry despises the people he talks to every day; he loathes their views and he abhors their adoration.
His listeners think they know him but Barry is not even sure he knows himself. He is careless and cold with his lover Linda, downright ugly to his best friend and collaborator Stu and spiteful of his producer, the man who made him, Dan. But above all, he detests himself for the lie he is living.
While freedom of the press has always been viewed as important, Bogosian’s play highlights that, in the wrong hands, this freedom can be used to baffle and create prejudice. In a post-truth age of fake news and continued attacks against the press, this landmark hit has never felt more relevant.
Director Sean Turner comments, I am delighted to be bringing back together some of the major players from 2015's highly successful No Villain, the world premiere of Arthur Miller's first play. The time is more than ripe for London audiences to enjoy the fast-paced adrenaline thrill ride that is Talk Radio. The production will be anarchic and raucous – once we put our foot on the pedal it will not stop.
The most lacerating portrait of a human meltdown this side of a Francis Bacon painting. (New York Times)
Performance Dates Tuesday 29th August – Saturday 23rd September 2017
Tuesday – Saturday, 7.30pm
Saturday and Sunday matinees, 2.30pm
Running time 75 minutes
Twitter @TalkRadioLdn @seandturner @MatthewJure
Writer Eric Bogosian
Director Sean Turner
Producer Samuel Julyan
Designer Max Dorey
Lighting Jack Weir
Sound Designer Dan Bottomley
Barry Champlain Matthew Jure
Location Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ, www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk.
How to get there The nearest underground station is Angel (on the Bank branch of the Northern line). The nearest rail station is Kings Cross St Pancras.
Box Office Tickets are available priced £18 (£16 concessions). Available from Old Red Lion Theatre Box Office and www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk or 0844 412 4307
Sean Turner
Sean Turner trained in directing at the National Theatre and in devising with Complicite, he is also an alumnus of ALRA and East 15. He is Artistic Director of his own producing company, Turner Theatre Limited and Director of the acclaimed touring Shakespeare company Permanently Bard. In 2015 Sean discovered Arthur Miller's first play, No Villain, and directed its world premiere which later transferred to the West End (Trafalgar Studios). Sean is the Associate Director of the Tony and Olivier Award-winning The Play That Goes Wrong. Other recent credits include; Nahda (Bush Theatre), The Crucible (ALRA), Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Twelfth Night (all UK tours), Boris Godunov (Brockley Jack), Shakespeare's Lover's (The Faction). In 2012 Sean's Edinburgh transfer of Three of Hearts was nominated for five Off West End Awards including Best Director.
Matthew Jure
Matthew Jure trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and at Bournemouth Media School, working extensively in radio before moving into theatre and screen roles. Onstage he has played Macbeth, Septimus Hodge in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and Ricky Roma in David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning Glengarry Glen Ross. His screen work includes Eddie Jones in Grantchester, Andy Kent in The Tunnel and DS Stanley Davies in The Great Train Robbery, as well as appearances in Waking The Dead, Downton Abbey and the imminent Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams opposite Timothy Spall. Matthew was nominated for the 2017 Edinburgh International Film Festival award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film as boxer William McCrae in The Pugilist.
