"If the efficiency of the brute is often superior to the fecklessness of democracy in getting things done, it is not always as lasting — which is reason enough to see 'Straight Line Crazy.'"
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"Fiennes manages to find the shades of emotion in a Moses written as little but bullish. The strongest moment is his final epilogue to the audience about his approach to swimming, the one skillful metaphor for Moses's career that parallels the play's opening lines."
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" 'Straight Line Crazy' feels like a further retreat toward the conventional. It’s the kind of thing you might see programmed at any nonprofit around the city — an easy one for subscribers."
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"Even an often-dazzling turn by Mr. Fiennes cannot disguise that the playwright is overmatched by the sheer size of Moses’s monumental, and still controversial, achievements."
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"The performances are as outrageously luxurious as a full-length fur coat, so much so that it's easy to ignore the wire hanger on which they hang."
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If Straight Line Crazy creaks a little, Hare has put onstage a fascinating chapter of New York history -- and in a moment when so many seem to prefer strongmen as their political leaders, he gives us something to think about. (On another day, we can discuss the irony of presenting a play about the potential disastrous effects of urban planning at Hudson Yards, a characterless development that many consider to be blot on the city's skyline.) And Fiennes' incarnation of Moses, in all his idealism and power lust, is one for the books.
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"History comes cracklingly alive in 'Straight Line Crazy,' David Hare’s not-to-be-missed dissection of power broker Robert Moses."
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Every once in a while, the right actor is found for the perfect historical role. Take for instance, Julie Harris as Emily Dickinson, James Earl Jones as Paul Robeson, Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain and Audra McDonald as Billie Holiday. Add to that list Ralph Fiennes’ titanic performance as builder and city planner Robert Moses in David Hare’s latest London import, "Straight Line Crazy," with eight out of 11 original cast members of the London Theatre Company’s 2022 production. Co-directors Nicholas Hytner and Jamie Armitage convert what could have been a civics lesson into a riveting and enriching evening of theater.
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