REVIEW: Straight Line Crazy at the Bridge Theatre

The combination of a new play by David Hare, under the direction of Nicholas Hytner with Ralph Fiennes in the lead promises an evening of theatrical magic. Those of us old enough to have seen Sir Anthony Hopkins triumphant return to the West End stage in David Hare’s Pravda in 1985 at the National Theatre have seen it work before. Hytner seems to have transferred that magic that the National Theatre used to create to his new home at the Bridge Theatre, so picturesquely set in the sight of Tower Bridge and David Hare has again created another monstrous dominant central character that demands loyalty to his single-minded vision at a cost of everything else that matters in life. The result is a fascinating portrait of the man who shaped the Expressway network and parks that give modern New York its distinctive look and feel while exposing his dated misogynistic views and the modern debate about mass transit, cycle lanes and walking versus the private cars we have all come to depend on. At its heart is another extraordinary portrayal by Ralph Fiennes as Bob Moses.

Hare uses two pivotal moments in Moses’s career to explore the character and the response of the public and the ruling classes to his vision. In the first Act, he is forcing through his opening up of Long Island to the middle classes with the support of Governor Al Smith by building two expressways down either side and a beach resort at Long Island Beach. Here the opposition is the gentrified landowners of the upper classes who regard it as their personal playground. In the Second Act, we jump forward thirty years to the mid-fifties and a plan to build an Expressway through the Washington Square Park on the pretence that it removes a bottleneck which has the effect of unifying a coalition of opposing forces from those who have had their communities destroyed by the Expressways to those who believe that cars need to be discouraged in favour of more efficient green transport. This gives the piece a strong modern resonance as so many Cities introduce cycle lanes and congestion zones to discourage travel by car. If the Mayor of London was still in his old office in City Hall next to the Bridge Theatre, he would be whooping with delight at the defeat of the private car supporters in this play!

REVIEW: A Very Very Very Dark Matter at the Bridge Theatre

Set largely in the cluttered attic of writer Hans Christian Andersen, this 90 minute world premiere by Martin McDonagh has split opinion of audiences at the Bridge; and it’s clear to see why.

On the one hand the cast are good with Jim Broadbent and Phil Daniels giving strong performances as Anderson and Dickens respectively. Newcomer Johnetta Eula’Mae Ackles also shines as captive ghost writer Majory in this, her professional debut. The first scene between Anderson and Charles Dickens (repeatedly referred to as Charles Darwin) is a comedic highlight and Jim Broadbent really does carry this show.

The set design by Anna Fleischle is exquisite; full of intrigue and intricacies and gave hope to a play really creating a world and setting. In truth though, the design seemed a complete waste and the utter mess of the script really let the design and actors down.

With the writing, there was no clear time or place both in the story or language used and this really jarred with the design and costume. There was nothing clever or sophisticated about the text or the direction and all the elements of the production felt very disjointed.

REVIEW: Nightfall at the Bridge Theatre

The patriarch dies and the son inherits the family farm out of tradition, pride, fear and resentment. The farm is failing and a developer wants to buy the land and turn it into a new housing estate. It’s a story that’s been told before, but what ‘Nightfall’ the latest production at ‘The Bridge Theatre’ so beautifully encapsulates; is the lengths we go to to please others at the cost of our own happiness. 

Siblings Lou and Ryan live on the family farm with their widowed mother Jenny. When Ryan’s best friend and Lou’s ex-lover Pete gets out of prison, he and Ryan come up with an idea to skim oil off the pipe that runs through their farm to sell on and save the foundering family business. However, when Jenny finds out about this plan she’s less than happy that the life she helped build with her husband is being forced in a new illegal direction away from their traditional roots.

What ‘Nightfall’ does so effortlessly is it dances around its own subject matter, almost trying to escape it as much as the characters are; but it’s as harsh and as unavoidable as that pipe running through the centre of their garden. At it’s core it is a piece about loss and how we as humans deal with grief on any level, be it death, livelihood, friendship or love. It forces us to confront the innate ownership we have over our own pain, and the way we inadvertently manipulate others to heal our wounds whilst selfishly hindering them from curing their own.