NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Urban planners may not be thought of as polarizing figures, but Robert Moses -- the man behind the Cross Bronx Expressway, the Westside Highway, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, and countless other now-iconic pieces of New York City infrastructure -- was a breed onto his own.
And this is why "Straight Line Crazy," running through Dec. 18 at The Shed at Hudson Yards and starring Ralph Fiennes as Connecticut-born, Manhattan-raised Moses, is described by British playwright David Hare as an "irresistible theatrical subject." And as for Moses being polarizing, Hare writes in the playbill, "Will there ever be a settled opinion about Robert Moses?"
Photo credit CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
New Yorkers either regard him with disdain (he's blamed for destroying the South Bronx, particularly communities of color there) or an urban planning genius who created long-lasting, beneficial ways of getting around the city.
The two-and-a-half-hour play is divided into two acts, which, according to the playbill, are "two imagined moments in the life of an alternately lionized and criticized historical figure."
The first act is set on Long Island in 1926, when Moses is not a well-known figure yet. During this act, Moses is busily working on convincing landowner Henry Vanderbilt, played by Guy Paul, the virtues of giving up land to build parkways for New Yorkers to drive out to what will become Jones Beach.
In this act, Fiennes' Moses is depicted as an adamant, unintimated -- albeit convincing -- man. With all of his notable projects still to come, his ego and demeanor has yet to achieve the level that made him toxic to many people.
In the second act, though, Fiennes' Moses is more professionally mature, given it takes place nearly 30 year later in 1955 Manhattan. By then, he has a host of projects under his belt, and his confidence, arrogance, callousness and overall contempt for people and instituations who stand in his way is suffocating.
And in the direct firing line of Moses is a fictional staffer, the pragmatic Finnuala Connell, played by Judith Roddy. He lashes out at her but she also dishes it back -- sometimes.
In one scene, Finnuala blasts Moses for not noticing that a co-worker, Ariel, played by Adam Silver, has been in a wheelchair for years. “All these years, you’ve watched (him) suffer,” she says. “You’ve watched him fall prey to a terrible disease ... without once, as I remember, ever once so much remarking on it!”
Narrating parts of the play is infamous Moses foe Jane Jacobs, the journalist and author who is funny and sarcastic in the play. Actress Helen Schlesinger offers the audience a refreshing contrast to Moses' hyper-masculine persona.
The show is sold-out, but there is a waiting list for tickets.
Related
