Bogosian's best known work is Talk Radio, in which he starred Off Broadway and in the film of the same name, directed by Oliver Stone. In 2006, the play was brought to Broadway, garnering Tony nominations for the play and for Liev Schreiber, who starred. For the original stage version, Bogosian was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize; for the film, he received the Berlin International Film Festival's Silver Bear.
Early in his career, Bogosian began working with Richard Foreman and The Wooster Group in a theoretical attempt to break down classical forms and "start from scratch". Explaining his approach to the medium, Bogosian said, "You've got to look at what's really happening instead of what you think is happening. What's really happening when you walk into the door of a theater is everything that's happening around you, the people sitting in the audience, and what you're picking up off the stage… You have to acknowledge that, or at least understand what the conceit is."[2]
His play subUrbia was produced by Lincoln Center Theater in 1994, adapted to the screen by Richard Linklater, and revived Off Broadway at Second Stage Theatre with an updated script in 2006. His most recent play, 1+1, was produced by New York Stage & Film in 2008, directed by Mark Brokaw. Other play titles include; Red Angel (Williamstown Theater Festival), Humpty Dumpty (McCarter Theater) and Griller (Goodman Theatre).
Bogosian is also well-known for the six off-Broadway solos he wrote for himself between 1980 and 2000. For these he was awarded three Obie Awards as well as the Drama Desk Award. The solos, including Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll and Pounding Nails in the Floor with Forehead are produced around the world and have become a mainstay of the American theater repertory.
He is the author of three novels and a novella. His latest, Perforated Heart, was published in the spring of 2009 by Simon & Schuster. His first novel, Mall, is currently being adapted as a film.
Bogosian starred in Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman at LAByrinth Theater. In 2010 he starred (with Laura Linney, Brian Darcy James and Alicia Silverstone in Donald Margulies' play Time Stands Still on Broadway at the Manhattan Theater Club and in the fall at the Cort Theater with Christina Ricci. Onscreen, Bogosian has been featured in films by Paul Schrader, Woody Allen, Robert Altman, Taylor Hackford, Atom Egoyan and Mike Judge. Other films include the Steven Seagal vehicle Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, and the John Holmes biopic Wonderland.
On television, he appeared as Captain Danny Ross in the long-running series Law & Order: Criminal Intent from 2006 to 2009. He last appeared in the episode "Loyalty", in which his character is murdered.
Bogosian has generated a wide range of work over the past 30 years. As the producer and founder of the dance series "Dancing in the Kitchen" he introduced such choreographers as Bill T. Jones and Karole Armitage to New York audiences. In 1986, Bogosian collaborated with Frank Zappa to produce the album, "Blood on the Canvas". Bogosian created the television series, "High Incident" with Stephen Spielberg for ABC television and supervised the production of the film "Bringing Back Balanchine" for the New York City Ballet. With composer Elliot Sharp, he created the full-length duet, "This is Now!" which was produced at Merkin Hall.
(photos by Paula Court unless otherwise noted)
