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Can you make ripping drama out of urban planning?
In theory, sure.
(you might buy a copy in the lobby, though its missing from the credits.)
Ralph Fiennes is impressive to watch as he channels some of the brawn and vocal gravel of the man.
Fiennes mostly just adjusts his stance to read older and heavier, and that suffices to age him.
It takes a lot of explaining to get everyone to that point, and therein lies the trouble.
So what the characters do, in scene after scene, is stand and talk past one another.
Then Moses explains back at her, firmly, why he isnt.
Lets set aside that this rather balanced character portrait is an absurd characterization.
Hestormed out of meetingswhen someone disagreed with him.
(And it isnt necessary.
Somehow it makes him seem smaller instead of bigger.
When a longtime aide essentially calls him a racist, he meets the charge almost blandly.
Is it a hometown quibble to say that the show also flubs some details about New York?
An aide in Mosess offices refers to the Fashion District rather than the Garment District.
(Maybe youd hear that today, but in 1926 no way.)
The historical texture is just a little bit wrong, a little too often.
Straight Line Crazyis at the Bridge Theatre in London through June 18.
