The Power of Duff

Play (2013)
by Stephen Belber

With David Wilson Barnes (Charles Duff), Jennifer Westfeldt (Sue Raspell), Brendan Griffin (John Ebbs), Joe Paulik (Ron Kirkpatrick, etc), Ben Cole (Scott Zoellner), Amy Pietz (Lisa Duff), Russell G. Jones (Joseph Andango), Noah Galvin (Ricky Duff)

Charles Duff, a straitlaced newscaster, is moved by a personal event to offer a note of religious sincerity at the end of his broadcast. A radical and out-of-bounds gesture, he draws the ire of his fellow workers, including co-anchor Sue (Jennifer Westfeldt) and his producer Scott (Ben Cole), but things develop interestingly and, at least to them, unexpectedly, as the public reacts to Duff’s heartfelt offerings.

For those who saw the film Network (1976) – directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Paddy Chayevsky – several decades ago, the idea of a newscaster who suddenly breaks pattern and addresses the home audience from the heart will not be a new theme. In that wonderful movie, the newscaster, played memorably by Peter Finch, cries out over the air I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it any more!, a line has lived on through the decades, one of the great film outbursts of all time.

Network eviscerated the world of television news, and, before its time, predicted its future evolution. When it was released, the worlds of news and entertainment were thought to be worlds apart. In Network, that boundary was blurred, and it was prophetic. Much of television news now, nearly forty years later, has exactly the superficial quality and tone that the satirical Network envisioned.

The Power of Duff is less hard-edged than Network and evolves, fairly quickly, from a critical view of the world of broadcast news to a jovially sentimental reflection on the way in which baring one’s soul, even in a rigidly public context which normally insulates itself from such things, can have profound effects.

Remarkably, the result of this narrative ploy does not come off as ridiculous; in fact, it is quite the opposite. The writing is good enough that it enables the ripples of Charles’ moments of truth to reverberate without turning into a pantomime. Quietly, the responses emerge, and a sense of Charles’ authenticity, challenged by both its opponents, and by its earnest fans despite themselves, comes into focus.

The interactions between Charles and his co-anchor, Sue, and his son, Ricky (Noah Galvin) are particularly compelling. Both actors give earnest and nuanced interpretations of their roles.

There is also something in this tale that reminds me of a favorite French film, The Closet (2001), starring Daniel Auteuil, in which a middle-aged man, working in a corporation, down on his luck, lonely, and not successfully engaged with his teenage son, has a telling change of life. In Duff, the protagonist is not so much down on his luck as poisoned by his success, but the personal effects are similar, and the father-son stories resonate.

David Wilson Barnes gives a great reading of Duff, managing to keep the crisp exterior intact while conveying the gradual melting of the core.

The stage design (by David Rockwell) is also very ingenious and keeps the story moving along while the frequent scene changes occur.

Of course, the play is based on a gag, but, the quality of this production and the direction by Peter DuBois shape the strengths of the writing, and it really works. It is funny and touching, even though the impetus of its gag and the fable-like quality of its scenario shine through.

– BADMan