News: Ralph Fiennes to star in world premiere of David Hare’s Straight Line Crazy

Ralph Fiennes is set to lead the cast in the world premiere of David Hare’s Straight Line Crazy at the Bridge Theatre.

Directed by Nicholas Hytner, and with designs by Bob Crowley, performances will run from 16 March to 18 June 2022, with an official opening night on 23 March 2022.

The play is a blazing account of the life of a man whose iron will exposed the weakness of democracy in the face of charismatic conviction. For forty uninterrupted years, Robert Moses was the most powerful man in New York. Though never elected to office, he manipulated those who were through a mix of guile, charm and intimidation.

Motivated at first by a determination to improve the lives of New York City’s workers, Moses created new parks, new bridges and 627 miles of expressway to connect the people to the great outdoors. But in the 1950s, groups of citizens at grass roots began to organize against his schemes and against the motor car, campaigning for a very different idea of what a city was and for what it should be.

Ralph Fiennes has extensive credits in theatre, film and television, including performing at the Bridge in David Hare’s Beat the Devil, as well as The Four Quartets, King Lear, Hamlet, Ivanov, Richard II and Coriolanus. Film credits include Schindler’s List, The English Patient, The Constant Gardener, The Grand Budapest Hotel and the Harry Potter films, plus M in Skyfall and Spectre.

Check out the latest theatre news.