Network
I cannot remember ever going to see a play,
as opposed to a musical, on Broadway. So last night was a first: we went to see
“Network,” starring Bryan Cranston as newsman Howard Beale, at the beautiful
Belasco Theater.
We had actually never seen the 1976 film for which Peter Finch won the Oscar, so we watched that a few days ago. Although the basic plot of both was the same, the film was rather dark while there were definitely some laughs in this staged version. But I am not sure I appreciated the humor. The story is about both unscrupulous corporations and obsessive television viewers, neither of which could fully exist without the other.
The staging was quite fascinating, and Mr. Cranston was every bit as powerful in this role as expected from the reviews as his character descends into a sort of madness, threatening to kill himself on air. We were not especially impressed by the actors in the other main roles: Tony Goldwyn, as Max Schumacher (played by William Holden in the film) seemed a bit too young for the role, and Tatiana Maslany, as Diana Christensen (played by Faye Dunaway in the film) was somewhat weak in that role.
The audience enthusiastically joined in the famous refrain of the movie, the words used to rev up the audiences at the fictional Howard Beale television show, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Perhaps these days those words are hitting a bit too close to home for too many people.
Love,
Rebecca
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