Film vs Play

TalkRadio was similar in both film and play form, although there were a couple of obvious differences. First in the play the entire script was written to reflect no scene change. In other words the entire story took place in the studio during the shows broadcast. The other big difference is the ending of the film. The play does not end with Barry being murdered, nor does it allude to his death at all. This is obviously a drastic difference.

I must say that I preferred reading the play to watching the film. I thought the end of the film was a little contrived, and it did little to enhance the storyline. I would love to have seen TalkRadio on live stage. I would assume that it would be challenging for an actor to continuously be visually interesting without any change in backdrop.

Both variations were entertaining, and gave an interesting slant on the life and mental state of a radio talk show host. I would assume that it is not uncommon for hosts to have such strong emotions as Barry, although I doubt they often express themselves in the same way that he does. If this were the case, we wouldn’t have many talk radio hosts left, per the film version.

May 5, 2009. 1.