Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – David Hare’s wordy STRAIGHT LINE CRAZY starring Ralph Fiennes presents a well-balanced portrait of Robert Moses

• By drediman
• October 27, 2022
• No Comments

Last night, David Hare’s Straight Line Crazy opened at The Shed in Hudson Yards. The production originated in London at the Bridge Theatre, where it proved to be a hot ticket, and it proves to be the same sellout stateside. Mr. Hare’s latest work chronicles the career of Robert Moses, the polarizing urban planner who — for better or for worse — transformed New York City into the iconic metropolitan center it is today.

Given its subject matter (the play focuses on two of Moses’ bulldozing projects — a parkway spanning Long Island and a failed attempt at constructing a highway through the heart of downtown Manhattan), the work is a New York play through and through, despite its origins across the pond. It’s also fascinating that the production’s American premiere would take place in Hudson Yards, one of the largest urban development sites in North America. Thankfully, Mr. Hare — a longtime A-list playwright — presents a well-balanced portrait of Moses, allowing audiences to make up their own minds about the controversial man and his questionable legacy. His muscular dialogue is a throwback to the kind of playwriting that champions grandstanding arguments and sturdy structures. Even if the play at some points gets too wordy for its own good, there’s obvious craft invested in the play’s construction.

Leave it to the great film and stage star Ralph Feinnes to imbue the megalomaniac Moses with the kind of larger-than-life grandeur and Shakespearean dimension that such a titan deserves. As his foils, his fellow castmates are fantastic, notably Judith Roddy as his longtime assistant Finnuala and especially Danny Webb as Alfred E. Smith, the caustic New York governor with whom Moses ascends to power. The production has been helmed by veteran British director Nicholas Hytner, who steers the play with a firm grasp.

RECOMMENDED

STRAIGHT LINE CRAZY
Off-Broadway, Play
The Shed
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Through December 18