MAY we suggest that you reserve your seats for our final play of the season asap?! This month at the Players is all about celebrating theater with our community and friends (like @womensworkri and @mondayspages ). From the mainstage to the greenroom to community events, we're closing season 117 with great theater of all shapes and sizes!
EXCITING UPDATE! There's been a change to The Players' 117th season... A blend of old and new, in 2024-2025 we're telling stories that make us laugh, think, remember, and feel. Keep an eye out for our first cast announcement soon, and there will be more audition notices throughout the summer!
Joan Dillenback @rogerslife@blanckaaron@tbshea413 Thomas Adams Martin
#ritheater #pvd #providence #dancingatlughnasa #brianfriel #anthropology #laurengunderson #moliere #carnivale #commediadellarte #The25thAnnualPutnamCountySpellingBee #rachelsheinkin #williamfinn #talkradio #ericbogosian
The reviews for Talk Radio are all glowing! Only one more weekend to see this show and tickets are almost sold out. Don't miss your chance to see this one.
It's opening night for Talk Radio!
Based on a true story, Talk Radio is even more prescient today, where podcasts have become the primary medium for what used to be AM/FM radio shock jocks (mostly). The play walks the edge between exploring the boundaries of free speech and the consequences of exploring that right.
Directed by @tbshea413
Talk Radio preview night tonight and opens tomorrow!
Here is a review from tech preview audience member Ryan Leverone:
“I would like to talk to you about jerks. Why do we love them?
Talk Radio, the stunning pitch-black comedy rounding out the 117th season at The Players is a show about being a jerk. Primarily, it is a show about being a performer and performing as a jerk.
Where does the performance end and where does the person begin? Or is it the other way around? Either way, this Pulitzer finalist that perfectly portrays its birth year of 1987 feels more pertinent than ever.
The Players take on this modern classic works impeccably in so many ways. I’ll begin with the first thing you see: the set. It simply beggars belief. It is a fully working radio station on stage, lumps and all. The set alone is worth your admission price.
Speaking of lumps and all, yes, our loudmouth is the central focus of the piece, but the world around him is vibrant and buzzing with electricity straight from the third rail of humanity.
Our radio jock’s coworkers have the hapless task of living with him on the day to day, doing their best to recon with the fact that they’ve hitched themselves less to a wagon and more to something trying to break the land speed record.
The show’s callers are the sea of humanity, ready to swallow you up. They oscillate between the mundane and the startling. Their problems are of their time and, alarmingly, still of ours. It is a dark and fascinating mirror.
Then there is our jerk: both the ringmaster of this circus and the organ grinder’s monkey. It is a character study that you love to hate and fully pity. It walks that delicate line where it is both hard to know what’s honest, but also feels harrowingly human.
You can tell that director Terry Shea had a goal in mind for this show and fought hard for that goal. He saw the grand vision but also sweat the small stuff. Talk Radio is a dark comedy that is the one thing that is so hard to be in 2026, it’s shocking.
RJ”
Meet Barry Champlain. 🎙️
He's the most dangerous voice on the radio, and he knows it. We couldn't be more excited for Justin Pimentel to step into the shoes of Talk Radio's notoriously self-destructive shock jock.
Come see what happens when the mic is on, and there's nothing left to lose.
Directed by Terry Shea
Show dates: May 8, 9, 10, 15, 16 & 17, 2026
Ticket link in bio!
#TalkRadio #ThePlayersRI #Providence #PVD #RITheater #RhodeIsland #RhodeIslandEvents #Theater #BarkerPlayhouse
Cancel culture has been around a LOT longer than social media. And Talk Radio is proof.
This is definitely the kind of show you'll be talking about on the drive home.
Written by Eric Bogosian
Directed by Terry Shea
May 8, 9, 10, 15, 16 & 17, 2026 at the Barker Playhouse.
Ticket link in bio!
#TalkRadio #BarkerPlayhouse #ProvidenceTheater #LiveTheatre #RITheater #ThePlayers
Ever heard of a shock jock?
It's the radio host who says what nobody else dares to, picks fights with callers on air, and somehow keeps you glued to the dial anyway. 📻
We are having an absolute blast bringing Talk Radio to life. Opening night is so close we can practically hear the phones ringing.
Get your tickets today! Link in bio.
Written by Eric Bogosian
Directed by Terry Shea
May 8, 9, 10, 15, 16 & 17, 2026 at the Barker Playhouse
#TalkRadio #BarkerPlayhouse #ProvidenceTheater #InRehearsal #LiveTheatre #RITheater #PlayersRI
Before podcasts, there were radio shows. And before you could skip an ad or listen on 2x speed, you could pick up the phone and call the host directly to tell them what you thought.
Rehearsals are underway and we cannot WAIT for you to meet Barry Champlain. Talk Radio is hilarious, electric, and uncomfortably familiar.
Directed by Terry Shea
Show dates: May 8, 9, 10, 15, 16 & 17, 2026
Ticket link in bio!
#TalkRadio #EricBogosian #ProvidenceTheater #InRehearsal #LiveTheatre NewEnglandTheatre ComingSoon TalkRadioPlay BarkerPlayhouse
