Straight Line Crazy

Straight Line Crazy
Original production poster
Written by	David Hare
Directed by	Nicholas Hytner
Date premiered	16 March 2022
Place premiered	Bridge Theatre London
Original language	English
Subject	History, architecture, New York City
Genre	Drama
Setting	1920s–1960s New York City

Straight Line Crazy is a play written by David Hare. The first production, directed by Nicholas Hytner, opened in previews at the Bridge Theatre in London on 16 March 2022 before officially premiering on 23 March 2022.^[1] The play is set in the 1920s through the 1960s in New York City and centres around the life of Robert Moses portrayed by Ralph Fiennes.^[2] Fiennes stars as Moses, once a powerful man in New York and the "master builder" of infrastructure from new parks and bridges to over 600 miles of expressways. During his working life, he served on the New York State Council of Parks and was the New York Secretary of State. Though never elected to office, he used a mix of charm and intimidation to manipulate the people and events in his favour including the Governor of New York Al Smith, portrayed in the play by Danny Webb.

Motivated at first by a determination to improve the lives of New York City’s workers, he 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.

The play was shown in cinemas in association with National Theatre Live in fall 2022.^[3] It was announced that the production will make its New York stage debut, off-Broadway at The Shed running from October to December in 2022.^{[4][needs update]}