New writing by David Hare and playing at The Bridge Theatre, London until mid June.
Hare is always good value if you enjoy thinking. We left the theatre debating how much Robert Moses was a play on Creon in ‘Antigone’, and, perhaps more strangely, how a play essentially about roads was so interesting. And therein lies the skill of the trinity that is Hare, Hytner and Fiennes. In all fairness, the whole cast was excellent, although I did spend a reasonable amount of time trying to place Samuel Barnett (I had seen him in ‘The History Boys’ a very long time ago it turns out) who plays Ariel Porter. I found the undercurrents of both the sexual politics and tension with Finnuala (Siobhan Cullen) high on the drama of anticipation.
Maybe I’m less informed than I thought, but this was the first I was aware of Robert Moses. It was only after booking the tickets I found out he was a real person and his work dominates New York State. As an unqualified urban planner, it is an impressive study in how force of character and vision outlasts a host of presidents and fashions. I didn’t feel that Moses’ character was ever sympathetic, although the initial nimbyisms of the Long Island residents (not wanting the poor of New York to access their beaches) puts him on the side of the angels. And then, just like Sophocles’ Creon, despite something sounding more logical and utilitarian, he somehow becomes the enemy. The skilful production meant I could not have pinpointed when he became a tyrant, but like Fred Astaire slipping effortlessly from walk to dance, he was no longer the man of the people before the end. This play had beautifully balanced dialogue so you did not feel like only one character had all the arguments; another clever marker of how good intentions can become all too consuming passions. I particularly loved the interchange of ideas between Governor Al Smith (Danny Webb) and Moses on the nature of power. That certainly felt like a Greek tragedy too.
Fiennes is wonderfully impassioned and dexterous in this role, mesmerising at the same time as alienating. Hare is such an old hand at getting an audience exactly where he wants, but it nevertheless is a surprise to come away and say, what was the narrative arc there? Like Modernist prose, there is something of a vortex going on. It feels more like you are exploring the layers of a single moment or decision rather than moving from A to B. You do move over twenty years with Finnuala and Ariel providing the best sense that time is moving at all. The characterisation of Ariel had both of us wanting to tell him, ‘Get out of that abusive relationship!’ Spoiler alert, Ariel is in a wheelchair for the second half as a result of multiple sclerosis.
Yes, it is a play about roads. But no, it isn’t just a play about roads. I think this is Hare at his thought provoking best. Definitely worth getting to if you can.
