Bogosian's "Talk Radio' by New City Stage Co.

Eric Bogosian's Talk Radio takes place entirely in the studio of a Cleveland-based radio station, admirably realized by set designer Dick Durosette. For more than 100 stage minutes, the shock-jock host Barry Champlain fields and battles calls from irate and lonely listeners, dialogue that continues to hold relevance, even though it was written and set in the mid-1980s: Callers revel in their hatred of gays and ethnic minorities, express fears of immigration, unwanted pregnancy and rampant drug use, and display an enduring need to connect in an increasingly atomized society. I thought the blogosphere would eliminate these urges, but the airwaves apparently provide more immediate gratification, especially for the semi-literate.

The central shock-jock role is played by Paul Felder, a 2008 graduate of the University of the Arts who has already established himself as a promising actor in three commanding performances over the past year: Extremities, This Is Our Youth, and the recent Magnetic North at Act II Playhouse in Ambler. But while Felder betrayed no difficulty in playing up a few years in Magnetic North (he was a believable junior member of the corporate workforce), here he lacks the gravitas to ground the play. A young radio announcer can indeed attract an appreciable on-air following in subjects like, say, sports. But Champlain's show deals with the sort of moral and political issues that fanatics kill over. Because the role requires a grown man to play it, the production crumbles around Felder.

To be sure, the world of this play takes place on the radio, and the callers never see what Champlain looks like. But the audience of Talk Radio can see, and the casting of Felder—even when concealed beneath a skull-cap and Vietnam-era Army jacket—requires far too great a suspension of disbelief.

Gunned down in his driveway

Felder's interpretation is problematic too. The role of Champlain requires combativeness, intensity and the charisma and cockiness that could lure dozens of nightly callers into verbal sparring matches, not to mention the belligerent self-righteousness that would provoke bomb threats and an eventual murder. Alan Berg, on whom Bogosian based his fictional Champlain, was gunned down in his driveway by neo-Nazis for views he espoused on air. By contrast, Felder's gravelly voice conveys nothing more than a kind of frustrated cynicism; his few moments of true anger are devoted to lashing out at his producer for fielding weak callers.

In this production, the banter simply sounds like a pair of blowhards arguing, and rather than present Felder as a larger-than-life radio personality so vibrant and gigantic that he's about to be picked up for national syndication, his angry rants merely sound like… angry rants.

Of course an actor's range need not be limited by his age. Robert DaPonte, who's almost 30, delivered an excellent performance as a 14-year-old in Theatre Exile's recent dark play. Maude Adams and Mary Martin were well into their 40s when they played the eternally youthful title role in Peter Pan. But while adults can often find their inner child, it rarely works in the opposite direction (even the University of the Arts casts professors in over-35 roles).

Who else could play it?

Director William Roudebush's choice of Felder as Champlain might really reflect the paucity of Philadelphia actors who could handle the demands of this role. The 27-to-45-year age bracket offers plenty of local talent, but Champlain requires the kind of electrifying, gigantic personality who can prowl the stage like a lion, only to crumble later beneath the weight of his own cynical despair. I can't think of many Philadelphia actors who fill that bill.

In the program, Felder notes that he "still can't get over the fact that he's playing Barry Champlain." Unfortunately for him and this production, it's a role he'll be best suited to play ten or 15 years from now.