3 minute read
Don’t touch that dial!
Marty Fugate Contributor
Paddy Chayefsky was a fearless, funny, brilliant playwright, screenwriter and novelist. Back in the 1950’s “Golden Age” of television, he wrote several award-winning teleplays. After that, Chayefsky saw TV devolve into a medium for morons. Chayefsky changed channels — and became a screenwriter. In 1975, he wrote a screenplay called “Network.” And took a cinematic poke at the boob tube’s unblinking cyclopean eye.
Director Sydney Lumet’s movie hit the cinema screen in 1976. Peter Hall adapted it as a stage play in 2017. Today, Chayefsky’s satiric barbs are still as sharp as ever. For proof, tune into the current FST production.
Stage or screen, the story of “Network” remains the same. CBS, NBC and ABC were America’s “big three” broadcasting networks in the 1970s. “Network” imagines a fourth — UBS. A nasty, multinational conglomerate called CCA has just gobbled it up. The new owners plan to gut the old network’s unprofitable news division. Before that, they fire Howard Beale (Sheffield Chastain), the UBS news anchor — a national father figure like Walter Cronkite. After Howard gets the pink slip, he gives the nation some bad news: He’s going to kill himself on live TV. The network pulls Howard off the air — permanently. But his old friend, Max (Rod Brogan) is still running the UBS news division. Howard wants a guest editorial? Max lets him have it. Howard’s first rant is merely profane. It’s merely a hit. His second diatribe is either lunacy or prophecy — but his ratings are stratospheric. To the network’s corporate overlords, that’s all that matters. So Howard stays on the air.
While Hall’s script keeps most of Chayefsky’s dialogue, the story plays differently on stage. Director Richard Hopkins makes the most of live theater’s possibilities.
IF YOU GO ‘NETWORK’
When: Through March 19.
Where: Florida Studio Theatre’s Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St. Tickets: $25-$39.
Info: FloridaStudioTheatre.org.
vellian sex bomb. She’s playing with the big boys, but she’s not a boy. (April Andrew Carsell’s sizzling costumes make that clear.)
Sean Phillips’s Frank Hackett is a corporate hitman. The CCA suits use him to cut costs and ruin lives at UBS. He’s good at his job. Robert Duvall played the character as a raging hatchet man. Phillip’s Hackett is more of a coldly calculating sniper. He gets you in the crosshairs from a mile away. One bullet. One kill.
Out of all the main characters, Max is toughest to play. He’s the story’s designated regular guy — whom Diana symbolically seduces. Brogan ducks around Chayefsky’s heavy-handed symbolism and plays Max (believably) as Howard’s loyal, flesh-and-blood friend.
“Network” is a story about television. It unfolds in Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay’s convincing simulation of a working TV studio. Nathan Scheuer’s videos, Ben Rawson’s lighting and Thom Korp’s audio complete the illusion. Their collaboration is outstanding, despite a few opening-night glitches.
This parallel world looks contemporary. You can easily connect the dots to our world. They had one big TV screen; we have lots of little screens. Their idiot box had one giant cult of personality. Our “smart” devices have a multitude.
This FST production is consistently great with flashes of genius. Kudos to all the talents involved. They had great material to work with, of course.
R SOT CONCERT SSOCI TION
Presenting world-renowned orchestras, chamber ensembles and acclaimed soloists
VIOLINIST SARAH CHANG & PIANIST JULIO ELIZALDE
March 12, 7:30 pm | Van Wezel
Known as one of the foremost violinists of our time, Sarah Chang dazzles audiences with her technical virtuosity. Acclaimed pianist Julio Elizalde joins her for a program of Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances, Brahms’ Sonata No. 3 in D minor, and Franck’s Sonata in A Major.
BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC JOANN FALLETTA MUSIC DIRECTOR
March 27, 7:30 pm | Van Wezel
JoAnn Falletta leads the Grammy Award-winning Buffalo Philharmonic in Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto featuring violinist Sandy Cameron.
| 941-966-6161
Hopkins knows that this play (like any play) is inherently interactive. You’re watching a live show on stage, not a recorded images on a screen. With “Network,” the conceit is you’re part of the TV studio audience.
Chastain neatly avoids the looming shadow of Peter Finch’s iconic film performance. He’s found a fresh take on Howard Beale — and a new voice, too.
Zien’s Diana is also a brave, new beast. Forget Faye Dunaway’s Nordic Ice Queen. Her character’s more earthy, more sensual — a Machia-
Chayefsky’s screenplay ends with an iconic last line. Fifteen words of pure dynamite. Hall added 103 more words. He spells out the story’s moral — just in case you missed the point. But “Network” had already made its point — several, in fact.
The main point?
Here’s Howard Beale with the answer ...
“You’re beginning to believe this illusion we’re spinning. You’re beginning to think this is the true reality and it’s your own lives that are unreal ... In God’s name YOU are the real thing. We’re illusions. So turn off your sets! Turn it off and leave it off!”
Thanks, Howard. You say it far better than I can. Good night. And good luck.
