Eric Bogosian's TALK RADIO Begins Performances Tonight at The Chain Theatre

Variations Theatre Group will present Eric Bogosian's Pulitzer Prize-nominated play TALK RADIO beginning tonight, September 12th, with the Opening Night set for Tuesday, September 16th at The Chain Theatre.

Inspired by the 1984 murder of controversial shock jock Alan Berg, TALK RADIO is set in a Cleveland radio station over the course of Barry Champlain's two-hour broadcast as he's being scrutinized that night by producers fixated on taking the show national, and fueled as always by coffee, cocaine and Jack Daniel's. Barry's jousts with his unseen callers-ranging from a white supremacist to a woman obsessed with her garbage disposal-are interspersed with confrontations by his ex-deejay pal and his sometime girlfriend/producer.

Under the direction of Greg Cicchino, the cast of TALK RADIO will feature Kirk Gostkowski (Hurlyburly, Leave Me Behind, The Shape of Things), Lauren Allison (Pinkalicious), Kelly Jean Clair ("Criminal Minds," "Scrubs"), Timothy J. Cox (Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Over Coffee), Rebecca Hoodwin ("Nurse Jackie," Fiddler on the Roof as Golde w/Theodore Bikel), Mark A. Keeton (Alligator Summer, Manhattan Transfer), Peter Osterweil (A Question of Time), Gordon Palagi (Dracula: Dragon Prince, Available), Christina Perry (Hurlyburly, Venus and Mona, Fool for Love), Patrick Pizzolorusso (Getting Even with Shakespeare, "A World of Her PWN"), and Doug Shapiro (Disney's Finding Nemo: The Musical).

Production Design for TALK RADIO is by Aaron Gonzalez (John Leguizamo's Ghetto Klown).

Playwright Eric Bogosian's work includes subUrbia; Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll; Drinking in America (Drama Desk Award); Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead; Fun House; and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.

The performance schedule for TALK RADIO will be Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday evenings at 8 PM, with matinees Saturday at 2 PM through September 27th. Tickets are $18 and are available through www.VariationsTheatreGroup.com or by calling 866-811-4111. The Chain Theatre is located at 21-28 45th Road in Long Island City, just ten minutes from Times Square via the 7, E and M trains to Court Square Station.