“I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” If you’re a film buff, you probably know this line from Academy Award-winning dramedy classic “Network.”
As part of its 2026-27 season, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, also known as Cincy Shakes, is bringing the film from screen to stage in a whole new way.
Directed by cinema legend Sidney Lumet with a screenplay from Paddy Chayefsky, “Network” revolves around veteran anchorman Howard Beale as he has a mental breakdown on TV, and then becomes a broadcast phenomenon in a world where outrage sells and attention is currency.
“‘Network’ is one of the most brilliant films of the 70s, and just an incredible satire of our media landscape … it feels like the story is ripped from today’s headlines,” said the show’s director Brian Isaac Phillips, who is also the CEO and producing artistic director at Cincy Shakes. “This play is an opportunity to take Paddy Chayefsky’s words and figure out a way to make this a live event, in a more communal and immersive experience than what you’d have sitting alone in the dark with a screen.”
The theatre adaptation of “Network” that Cincy Shakes will be performing was written by Lee Hall, and premiered in London in 2017 to much fan fare. Bryan Cranston played the title role, and audiences were transported to a live television studio with several interactive moments to join in the action—complete with a real-life restaurant on stage where theatregoers could enjoy a three-course meal during the play.
This production of Lee Hall’s “Network” is the first in the Midwest region. While Cincy Shakes will sadly not be giving guests any sort of white-tablecloth dining experience, they will replicate and iterate on the idea of audience participation during the play.
“What I’m really excited about is … how immersive can we make it? How much can you feel like you’re a part of the action, and how do we find a way to respect and replicate the fluid way that a film moves through a stage production?” Phillips said. “How do we allow the audience to become participants for the ‘Howard Beale Hour?'”
There will be plenty of audiovisual magic on the stage, given that “Network” revolves around a TV studio. Multiple screens will adorn the stage, where cameramen will capture the play’s fictional TV set live and feed it back to audience members. The goal is to show what’s happening on the broadcast versus what’s actually happening behind the scenes, complete with period-accurate ad-breaks.
Although the show’s more technical aspects haven’t been completely finalized yet, Phillips currently plans to have cast members and set pieces moving amongst the audience. The consoles and control room of the TV studio will (tentatively) be in the middle of the crowd.
“You’ll hear the TV director and production assistants behind you and next to you, and you’ll see the wardrobe people running on-stage and helping folks get ready. We’re really trying to make you feel like you’re part of a live broadcast as part of the design and the staging of the piece,” Phillips said. “We’ll be having an audience warm-up person come out to have you yell along to the catchphrase and everything. And because our space is as intimate as it is, it’ll really allow every audience member to feel like they’re part of the action.”
“Network” is “still sadly relevant” today, thanks to its themes of outrage and shock-value taking up the airwaves more than the truth, with Phillips saying it revolves around “corporations controlling the narrative in the media.” He cites the mergers between NBCUniversal and Warner Bros-Paramount-Skydance as examples of how much worse things have gotten, now that only a few major companies control nearly every news source.
“There’s so many different companies under one umbrella. Who’s leading that umbrella, and what’s their goal? What are they hoping to achieve? And obviously profit is a big part of that, but at what cost to society?” Phillips asked. “What we’re watching right now is exactly what they’re warning about in ‘Network’ … it makes for less opportunity for freedom of choice, and it’s something we should all be worried about.”
It’s a bold new experience for Cincy Shakes, who—as the name implies—most regularly performs the works of Shakespeare. But Phillips, who describes the company’s range as “Shakespeare, and,” a classic film adaptation fits right into what they’re already doing.
“Sometimes we’ll do like a ‘Dracula’ or a ‘Jane Austen,’ and sometimes it’s going to be something that’s a little more of a contemporary classic. And, yes, this is a regional premiere but it’s based on a classic film,” Phillips said. “Being able to take a classic story and do a new spin is right in line with the type of programming we provide. Yes, we want you to see come down and see an ‘Othello’ or a ‘Coriolanus.’ But we have a lot of other opportunities to witness other stories here, too.”