Paddy Chayefsky's "Network" - by Lee Hall - Umbrella Arts Center (Concord, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: Members of the CAST of the stage adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky's "NETWORK" by Lee Hall, presented by Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, MA. now playing through November 3, 2024. Photo Credit: Tim Gurczak)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“My rage isn't against television - it's against the dehumanization of people."
- Paddy Chayefsky
Umbrella Arts Center
Presents the Stage Adaptation of
"NETWORK"
Adapted for the Stage by Lee Hall
Based on the screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky
Directed by Ashley Kelly Tata**
Produced by Brian Boruta
Assistant Director Joe Juknievich
Stage Manager Vanessa C. Hart*
Cast Includes: Barlow Adamson* as “Max Schumacher,” Amy Barker* as “Louise Schumacher/Camera ‘A’ Technician,” Steven Barkhimer* as “Frank Hackett,” Jennifer Bubriski as “Sheila/Production Assistant,” Blythe de Oliveira Foster* as “Diana Christensen,” Tom Giordano* as “Nelson Chaney/Floor Manager,” Johnny Gordon as “Director,” Tim Hoover as “Harry Hunter/ELA Member,” Will McGarrahan* as “Arthur Jensen/Continuity Announcer/Interviewer,” Bill Mootos* as “Howard Beale,” Zoe Pepin as “Camera ‘B’ Technician,” Damon Singletary* as “Jack Snowden/Warm-Up Guy,” Olivia Sowell as “Schlesinger/Hair/Makeup,” Phil Thompson as “Edward Ruddy.”
Additional Creative Team:
Assistant Stage Manager - Em K. Ross*; Scenic Designer - Afsoon Pajoufar; Lighting & Projections Designer - SeifAllah Salotto-Cristobal; Audio Designer - Aubrey Dube; Costume Designer - Nancy Leary; Properties and Set Dressing Designer - David Allen Prescott; Stage Crew - Abi Lora, Em Botsivales, Emma Covert, Addie Pates; Wardrobe Supervisor - Tree Brock; Audio Board Operator - Sarah Hobbs Butler; Scenic Charge - Page Evett; Intimacy Director - Kayleigh Kane; EDI Consultant - Kira Troilo; EDI Assistant - Ariel Welch; Company Manager/Health and Safety Officer - Cathie Regan.
*Appearing through an Agreement between this teather and Actor's Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Performances:
September 20, 2024 through November 3, 2024
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
Main Stage Theater
THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER, 40 Stow Street, Concord, MA 01742
TICKETS:
For tickets or more information, contact # 978-371-0820 or visit www.theumbrellaarts.org
BUY TICKETS
COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
Contact Venue for Most Updated COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Information.
Umbrella Arts Center brings to their Main Stage Theater in Concord "NETWORK" - a play which looks at “shepherding” in a visual medium, showing us who the shepherds are and, more importantly, who are their sheep.
…and, in the case of both the shepherds and sheep, they aren’t the ones you think they are…or, then again, aren't they?
What, in fact, drives media and social content and, more importantly, who are the drivers?
The above concept was first exhibited in a movie made nearly half a century ago.
Yet, the ideas expressed in "NETWORK" are still relevant now more than ever as we watch people living in today’s world who are seemingly living or dying by a daily fixation of news media and/or social media content.
Thanks to the stunning and perceptive direction by Ashley Kelly Tata, the Umbrella Stage Company production is a visual and visceral masterpiece of theatre.
The above maybe a little dose of hyperbole but there is, in fact, much to admire here.
Many of the cast double as the technical crew of this broadcast "NETWORK" and, if they are NOT actually expertly running video cameras, etc. they are giving one hell of a performance.
As one looks at the complex set for the Umbrella Arts Center stage, they will be bombarded by multiple projected images along the back of old network news shows and mid-1970s era commercials that run concurrent to the story.
There are multiple televisions seen at varied points of the stage with part of the show projected along the back wall.
Don't let any of the above distract, though, from what takes place on stage because what happens there is well worth paying strict close attention.
Given the ingenious plot construct in the Lee Hall adaptation, along with all the marvelous projected imagery used in the Umbrella show, at no time does any of this diminish from the simply gorgeous writing of Paddy Chayefsky.
"NETWORK" the play adapts the story from the original 1976 film directed by Sidney Lumet which had an Academy Award–winning screenplay written by Chayefsky.
The Chayefsky "NETWORK" screenplay was voted one of the “10 Greatest Screenplays in History” by the Writers Guilds of America in 2005.
Hall's adaptation culled some of the best exchanges and short monologues performed by some of Chayefsky's characters which, still today, come across as sheer poetry.
The "NETWORK" stage adaptation premiered in London in 2017 and ran until 2018.
The production made its Broadway debut in 2018.
Originally, the Broadway production was scheduled to a limited run of 18 weeks but was extended repeatedly before closing in June, 2019.
"NETWORK" is about a fictional television network and its struggle with poor ratings.
Actor Bryan Cranston would go on to win the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for playing troubled anchorman Howard Beale in "NETWORK."
In the 1976 film, actor Peter Finch would also win the Academy Award for playing the same Beale character, however Finch died suddenly and was posthumously awarded.
(Photo: Bill Mootos as “Howard Beale” in the stage adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky's "NETWORK" by Lee Hall, presented by Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, MA. now playing through November 3, 2024. Photo Credit: Tim Gurczak)
Veteran news anchor Howard Beale (exceptionally played in the Umbrella Arts production by Bill Mootos) just isn't pulling in the viewers like he used to at the (fictitious) “UBS Evening News.”
However, when Beale suffers an on-air meltdown, uttering a multitude of FCC-violating expletives, he unintentionally sparks viewer interest and emerges as the hottest thing on network television.
Remember, at the time Chayefsky wrote "NETWORK," there were only three major networks in existence: ABC, CBS and NBC.
PBS was in its infancy and not really viewed in the same light being (at the time…mostly) public supported, and the FOX network was still in the early development stages.
Cable was also in its infancy - and “streaming” was most likely a rural colloquialism for something you only did in the bushes while out with the family on a fishing or camping trip.
Forget Springsteen's "57 Channels (and Nothin' On)" - these three networks were it and were "The Big Three" for a long, long time.
So, "The Big Three" networks were driven exclusively by ratings which translates into advertising sponsors and made network corporate executives a ton of money back in the day.
(Photo: Members of the CAST of the stage adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky's "NETWORK" by Lee Hall, presented by Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, MA. now playing through November 3, 2024. Photo Credit: Tim Gurczak)
So, at the start of the show, in this world of the fictitious network UBS, division president Max Schumacher (Barlow Adamson) informs Beale that he will be taken off the air because of his abysmal ratings.
Upon hearing this, while live on the air, Beale announces to his audience that he will commit suicide on the following week's news broadcast.
Adamson is captivating as Schumacher who is trying to perform damage control.
Yet both he and the network brass all fail spectacularly as Beale goes back on the air to “retract” his comments and instead makes matters worse. …or does he?
It turns out Beale’s maniacal outbursts have boosted the struggling network’s ratings ultimately sending UBS viewership ratings through the roof.
Therefore, in a move that sickens Schumacher, the UBS executives decide to get behind Beale and exploit the situation for their own commercial gain.
Programming chief Diana Christensen (Blythe de Oliveira Foster) comes along and initially tries to work with (i.e. manipulate) Schumacher to help promote the fiasco for the network execs.
De Oliveira Foster gives an unhesitating, dedicated performance as the relentless ratings-driven Diana.
A sub-plot involving a romance between Max and Diana is only lightly touched upon in this adaptation and never really evokes much sympathy for either character as things begin to sour quickly for both.
(Photo: Members of the CAST of the stage adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky's "NETWORK" by Lee Hall, presented by Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, MA. now playing through November 3, 2024. Photo Credit: Tim Gurczak)
Schumacher wants UBS to cancel Beale, out of journalistic integrity and basic human compassion.
Conversely, Diana wants to milk the situation for all its worth.
This puts Schumacher right in the corporate cross-hairs as Christensen gets her boss, Frank Hackett (Steven Barkhimer), to let her develop the show as part of the entertainment division.
This means Schumacher's days at UBS are numbered.
Barkhimer is outstanding as the seemingly drunk with power, greedy exec Hackett, who might soon find himself regretting the media monster he - with Diana at the helm - creates.
UBS has a hit with “The Howard Beale Show” where Beale becomes known as a "mad prophet of the airwaves.”
This soon leads to a further acceleration of corporate insanity with ultimately catastrophic consequences - all negotiated through a grotesque "NETWORK" of greed.
Not one supporting actor falls short of outstanding in the 90-minute production.
One of the aspects of the Chayefsky dialogue which Hall captures is the blatant honesty with which even some of the most reprehensible characters speak.
A prime example of the above comes from an exchange between Beale and head of corporate for UBS, Arthur Jensen played by Will McGarrahan who, in a riveting performance, explains the reality of broadcasting and world economics to Beale.
(Photo: Members of the CAST of the stage adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky's "NETWORK" by Lee Hall, presented by Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, MA. now playing through November 3, 2024. Photo Credit: Tim Gurczak)
The concept of notoriety sparking media celebrity and milking it for entertainment level ratings has been seen many times.
While some approached the subject as satire, "NETWORK" feels anything but satirical.
Moreover, it is a brutal reality check and cautionary tale for which one must take heed, especially as we live in this social media "post-golden escalator" world.
One only need to as far as this season's "Dancing with the Stars" featuring a convicted fraudster as one of its "celebrities" (prior notorious figures include Sean Spicer and Tonya Harding) while dancing with an ankle bracelet monitor to see where things stand.
And nobody cares because it is ALL "entertainment," right?
Right?
However, we are not supposed to look at "news" in this way...and yet, we do, now more than ever.
"News" has become a series of presented "alternative facts" - news broadcasts are provided with a slanted perspective, solely dependent upon which network you "choose" to watch...and upon who owns that network (looking at you, Rupert Murdoch).
Just consider what news programs you look at regularly and think about why.
Is it because of the news stories or is it because of how the "facts" of the story are conveyed to best fit your opinion?
The stage adaptation of "NETWORK" uses onstage devices in combination with high tech wizardry to immerse the audience and make us feel as if we are part of the story when the audience abruptly becomes part of the play as Beale's studio audience.
Once this happens, that line between fact and fiction sone becomes blurred, mimicking the blurring of truth and fiction in contemporary news media.
Umbrella Stage Company's production of "NETWORK" continues in Concord until November 3rd and is not something you can order "on demand" or DVR.
You'll actually need to order the tickets then get up, go to your doors, leave your homes and travel to go see it live in person.
Take it from this "mad prophet" - you'll be glad you did.
Coming up next at Umbrella Arts Center will be the musical "NOW.HERE.THIS." by Hunter Bell, Susan Blackwell and Jeff Bowen which begins October 4th, 2024.
For tickets or more information, contact # 978-371-0820 or visit www.theumbrellaarts.org
BUY TICKETS
Approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
Kicking off the 2024-2025 Umbrella Arts season is the acclaimed Lee Hall stage adaptation of "NETWORK" - Paddy Chayefsky's iconic exploration of media madness and the blurring lines between truth and entertainment.
Set in the fast-paced world of television journalism, "NETWORK" remains hauntingly relevant today -- nearly 50 years following its original release, a parable about power and the perils of the modern media landscape.
ABOUT THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER
THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER enriches lives and builds a vibrant and inclusive community through the arts. THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER promotes creativity, learning, personal growth, and cultural exchange through accessible arts education programs, performing and visual arts presentations, and community collaborations.
40 Stow Street
Concord, MA 01742
# 978-371-0820
