For my journey to the London Tube Stations, I found it rather simple once I began to navigate it. At first, as most things, the challenge seemed vary daunting. To my surprise, navigating the tubes and stops was really as easy as simply reading a map. The tube was very similar to the New York City Subway Station but also very different. While there was a tremendous amount of people for both stations, the London Tube was much easier to use. On the Tube itself there are many clear maps that say the stops and all of the said maps are quite legible. Comparatively, the New York Subway maps are barely even there. Another huge plus of traveling in London is the fact that most people who use the Tube are very kind.
The most frustrating part of my entire experience was when I accidently got stuck trying to exit. I learned that the Oyster cards used to enter and exit the Tubes does not swipe twice in a row. There is a stop that is right by our hotel which makes travel within the city quick and easy to use. The downloadable apps for smartphones are a huge help as well in navigating the big city.
The play Straight Line Crazy was pleasantly likeable given the heavy content material. The main character truly had no redeeming qualities and was heavily distasteful through the entirety. The only real ok this is an actual person moment was near the very end. Robert Moses tells the audience and his co workers that his wife Mary is in a psychiatric ward. While the audience understandable feels sorrow for the characters, Robert feels almost nothing, or it at least seems that way. I took this as Robert putting everything into his main assistant as she is the one that he spent most of his days and nights with. Mr. Moses to not have to deal with the essential loss of his wife until Finnuala quits and leaves.
The play goes through how Moses not only destroyed his life, his workers lives, but the lives of hundreds of thousands of others. Upon Finnuala’s exit, she tells Moses how she lost her baby and husband while working for him. While she does not directly blame Robert, it is heavily implied. The play also gives racist undertones throughout, and it is confirmed when Finnuala says Moses only designs for upper middle class to the wealthy white.
The London Underground made a strong first impression on me, even in the wake of a taxing day of travel which left me feeling jet-lagged and more than a bit sick. Once on the Piccadilly line into the city from Heathrow, I was struck by three notable differences when compared to metro systems I’ve used before (particularly those in Rome and New York): the size of the cars, the comfort, and the quiet. London’s cars were two-thirds the height of other metro cars I’ve been on at most, and perhaps as a result are much quieter, even to the point of being entirely silent when stopped. In addition, the cushioning of the seats makes for a much more comfortable, if not slightly more cramped ride. In terms of navigation, I have not used a simpler system in my life. The layout is clear, the mapping is descriptive, and the stations are less maze-like than other cities. Undoubtedly much of this has to do with the history and geography of the city, but I am grateful for the ease of use, all the same.
[now playing: London – Third Eye Blind]
Straight Line Crazy
While I believe David Hare’s Straight Line Crazy has nominal issues with structure and exposition (particularly relying too heavily on dialogue, to reveal what is ultimately too little too late about some of its significant characters) I feel strongly that there is not a better play to have started this learning journey in London. The show was a seamless topical blend of my two areas of study, architecture and theatre, and provided a glimpse into an important historic shift in America’s socio-economic fabric through the eyes of urban planner Robert Moses. Ralph Fiennes expertly imbued him with vigor, resolve, and the right amounts of desperation, dedication and arrogance to prove to the audience that Moses was a well-intentioned man who saw the very fabric of the nation shift beneath him, turning him from a visionary for the people to out-of-touch dictator in just the quarter-century between 1926 and 1955 (and ultimately into a pariah, along with those the play’s younger characters hail as heroes, by the turn into the 21st).
I think the play’s choice to center the two acts on these specific years of Moses’s life, and the sharp contrast in tone between the two halves, drives home the central nuance of the play’s message. Ultimately, Robert Moses was a flawed but genuinely dedicated man who exhibited all the common moral downfalls of his time (namely thinly veiled racism underpinning all his work). However the takeaway from Moses’s interactions with his employees and political opponents and/or allies (played with conviction by an impressive supporting cast) is that during a time when turmoil and newfound agency within the American middle class was a defining characteristic of the national landscape, the heroic architect quickly became an impossibility, as much because of their changing context as their own shortcomings and lack of foresight. Straight Line Crazy shows us this phenomenon through Robert Moses, but he is representative of a greater pattern at the macro-scale which was a huge part of America’s journey into the contemporary era of policy and design.
[now playing: The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Bob Dylan]
Photos: I actively chose to avoid taking many photos on our first real day in the city, in an effort to force myself to engage more closely with what I was seeing. That ended up being poor judgment for the purposes of this blog post, but luckily I snagged a few good ones of St. Pancras (!!!) and the Tower Bridge… enjoy
10 am, and we’re on a Coach headed through London. Our tour guide, Molly, and driver, Grant, seem just as enamored with the pulsing traffic and rain-washed buildings as I am. We pass St. Clement’s church, and Molly tells us to take stock of the pockmarks, like freckles, on its exterior. “Much of this place was damaged during the war,” she says. And I think of scarring, of a small, particular indentation I noticed on my cheekbone this morning. I think of skeletons (how they hold us upright) and just how much work it must have taken to build this place back from the bones of old homes. Someone asks her to sing the nursery rhyme, “Oranges and Lemons,” and she does so with only the vaguest lilt of hesitancy.
Everywhere we look, there’s old mixed with new. A museum (I can’t remember which) fades past us on the right. Shadows of glass meet deep stone arches as its newest addition joins with the original space. Molly refers to this as a sort of “spongecake” effect and reminds us that the original Roman cities that existed here are tucked away in a deeper layer. With each year, still, more layers are set on top. I think what’s surprised me the most about the city so far is the fact that construction is in progress almost everywhere. There’s something peculiar about seeing sheets of plastic overtop of stone, but it speaks to the kinetic energy that surrounds this place. Nothing is still here, and yet, so many reminders of the past stay rooted where they are.
Even the trees, manage to grow wide and windblown in the middle of streets as if to say, “I was here first, I am lovely, take your time and walk around me.” And that word, “lovely,” is exactly what our tour guide keeps saying as she tells us about how lucky she was to study Art History here, and how lucky she is to to be here now winding through the streets in a coach in the rain. Lovely, is what comes to mind when I look up at the flowers that pour from every well-worn window they can find. As we walk outside Buckingham Palace and up through Piccadilly circus, though, I realize I’ve spent too much time letting my thoughts drift into flowers, and leaves, and color.
Did I remember to get a picture of myself in front of Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain? No. Did I snap a side glance at a very purple door that matched some very purple trash? Absolutely I did. But seriously, who color coordinates their porch stoop with their trash? By the time I forget about purple, we make it to the tube station with its long, circuitous, tentacle-like tunnels, and quite literally crush into the train car. I’m not entirely sure that I understand the tube system, but I’ll learn it soon if only for the couple shuffling their suitcases past us that gently rolled their eyes and sighed, “first time on a train?” Back in my room, even as I run through all of the moments where I could have been more present, I keep reminding myself of a road sign that I saw on the way back to the hotel that said something like, “you are here (really!).” I make it a mantra that I can carry around with me for a while: you are here, deep breaths, you are here.
Straight Line Crazy Review
“Grand” is the word stuck in my head after seeing Straight Line Crazy at the Bridge Theatre: grand in scale and grand in imagination. Ralph Fiennes’s Robert Moses is invested in the supposed vastness of his own ideas. He dreams of what leisure time could look like if New Yorkers were able to travel freely on highways. Yet, this dream is completely insular to his own experience as a wealthy, white man. Fiennes is able to communicate this sense of extroverted isolation in such a nuanced way. Everything that Moses says reverberates, but Fiennes continually moves away from the other actors as the characters’ grievances against him grow louder, and we get the sense that Moses is only ever in conversation with himself. Moses is in a constant dance between wanting human relationships with the people surrounding him, like Finnuala and Ariel, and needing to accomplish his own obsessive vision. The way that Fiennes as Moses retreats from Finnuala’s questions about his wife, Mary, is almost childlike as he begs her not to bring up anything personal. I think this inability to accept the kindness and grief of others is what made Moses’s character surprisingly difficult to dismiss as a mere antagonist.
In a sense, the production felt like watching someone’s dream from the outside. As the play goes on, the small maps that cover the space where Moses and his team plan the city streets shift to one large map that spans most of the stage floor. Looking down from above, the sheer scale of the map looks almost warped or melodramatic. If you’re standing on the map, just as Moses constantly hovers inside his dream for the future, it must appear to be all encompassing. If you’re above the map, however, it simply doesn’t seem real. For Finnuala and Ariel, Moses’s plans grow to be increasingly unrealistic and exclusionary even as they broaden in Moses’s mind. I wonder if the audience closest to the stage had the same experience or if the perspective of Moses as a character is less defined depending on how much of the highway plans you can see. One thing that I wanted from this production, however, was a bit more breathing space to sit with the characters and what they were communicating. I’m not sure if the pace of a rapidly expanding New York inspired the abrupt rhythm of the dialogue, but it felt almost rushed. Even at the end, the lights seemed to go out in the middle of the final lines. Then again, maybe I just didn’t want it to end quite so soon.
Today we went inside the London Underground, specifically using the Piccadilly line! I must say that it was definitely a time I will remember, as our group got split up on the first trip. I loved using the tube, and I found it much easier to navigate than a New York City subway – which was much appreciated. So far, I love London. The coach tour this morning was nice, as our group had the opportunity to see different parts of the city. I’m excited to venture to these areas using the tube, since I am feeling more comfortable with using this mode of transportation. Our group also had the opportunity to ride on the underground again this evening, as we ventured back to the city to watch Straight Line Crazy. During this journey, we changed lines while being underground. I am glad to have been with the group for the first time I did this because it was confusing to figure out where we were going! However, I do appreciate the clear signage the city has for its underground. It definitely makes it less ambiguous than I would have thought it would be!
Using the London Underground
This evening I had the pleasure of watching Straight Line Crazy, starring Ralph Fiennes. It was an absolute delight seeing Fiennes perform in person. Delving into the play itself, I definitely thought it was enjoyable, specifically Act 2 rather than the first. The first half of the play was rather minimalistic. With the entire first act setting the stage for what was to come, the opening conversations between the characters were more or less dry compared to conversations that would happen later in the play.
The second act was more visual, as there was a map of New York City that covered the entire front half of the stage. The characters interacted with this map frequently which helped heighten the tension of the urban planning decisions. My only critique about the play was how the characters, besides Moses, were not drawn on further. They were mere concepts playing into Moses’ life and the struggles of his ideas as time progressed. The play’s narrative screams of the importance of inclusivity and appreciating humanity; however, I feel as though this could have been done better if the other characters had their backgrounds shared more with the audience. Meaning, if the audience could know more about how Finnuala, Ariel, and Mariah grew up and came to be in this situation, the narrative could have had more depth. As the narrative actually is, the only full characterization the audience sees is Moses, a powerful white man whose only desires are personal success and gratification. I honestly pity the man, as he would rather die than change his ways to be more inclusive to all – and to admit to others that he was wrong.
Lastly, I appreciated how the play’s beginning and end mirrored each other, as Moses opens and closes with a metaphor of swimming, as it compares to his motivations of success. This made for a respectable close to the play; something of which I really desired. All in all, I had a great time watching the show, and it was incredible having the opportunity to see Fiennes act. This play was a great piece to start the trip with, so I am really enthused to see what is to come.
After our morning bus endeavors, we traveled down to the Tube. We started at Piccadilly Circus and made our way to Kings Cross. I have ridden the New York Subway many times and can say without a doubt (I mean, as of right now) that I prefer the Tube. While in the stations, I felt as if there was an overall deplete of clutter caused by people within the station. In NYC, the subways are filled with people performing, sleeping, and sometimes doing their business in a bucket (an unpleasant experience to witness to say the least). And while I have only been on two lines thus far, there seemed like a lot less room to do stuff like that and more of a sense of directness from everyone using the Tube. In addition, it was a lot quieter than the subway, which I found wonderful.
Later that evening, we went and saw Straight Line Crazy by David Hare, at the Bridge Theatre. The play is about the rise and the fall of Robert Moses, the architect who landscaped the metropolitan area of New York and brought expressways into the city. Moses was played by Ralph Fiennes, most recognizable in his role as Voldemort in the Harry Potter series. The show is split into two acts, the early days of Moses’ urban planning, and thirty years later as we see his initial ambitious drive transform into arrogant refusal to understand change. In my honest opinion, I preferred the second act to that of the first. My reasoning being, I liked the conflict that the second act carried. While the first act dazzled with Governor Al Smith, performed by Danny Webb (who was incredible), there was a direct struggle of power, change, and resilience to understand others. Moses was unwilling to listen to the people who he claimed to work for, nor the people he worked with. I also thought that Alisha Bailey, who played Mariah, was phenomenal and stood out to me. She had a radiant stage presence and clearly displayed the inner tension of working for the man directly destroying parts of the city, and being of the opposing view. My only complaint leaving the show was, why was Jane Jacobs, played by Helen Schlesinger, incredibly underutilized? Jane is said to be the downfall of Robert Moses, yet makes brief appearances throughout the show. It would have been neat to possibly have seen Jane watching some of the events take place from the sides, or to have an interaction with Moses at some point. I would have loved to see more from Jane as it even features her presence and conflict that she, in a way, creates. Overall, I enjoyed The Bridge Theatres production of Straight Line Crazy, and would recommend seeing it.
My first impression of London is that everywhere you look is some old and cool piece of architecture that I have never seen before. The city doesn’t seem to have an overall bad smell, which is reassuring as I thought it might be “smaugish” or have some sort of big city smell. The only consistent smell I have come across is cigarettes, which is bad, but it is often a short exposure.
I had lunch with Leah and Brenden the first day at this little sandwich and gelato place. There was a kitchen right behind the counter, and it was full of plants and it was super cozy.
While we were there we sat and observed people walking through the streets of London. I learned more in that 30 minutes eating this homemade avocado, mozzarella, tomato, basil sandwich and watching out this window about the people and the city than any class I could have taken.
This is not a sandwich, but it is the first Fish and Chips I had in London!
First observation- People don’t care if the walk sign is on. They will walk across the road when cars are coming, when cars are not coming. It felt like watching a real life game of frogger, because there are those little “checkpoints” that are ¼ or ¾ the way across the road occasionally. And people will get to those, and so that they can get across the street faster.
Second- There are quite a lot of younger people, and quite a few old people. In this area around the Hotel. There were not that many Middle aged people. Which was quite interesting.
Third- Bikes are popular, including a lot of food transportation.
Fourth- There must be a couple small grocery stores nearby as there are many old ladies carrying groceries back to their homes.
Fifth- Cars drive fast, and will be SUPER close to hitting people and will not care. Opposite of that, people stand right next to corners in order to be able to walk ASAP.
Six- People are in a HURRY. I think its because the weather is bad often, so they get inside while they can.
Part 2
Well for starters, A couple of us accidently didnt make it onto the same subway car as everyone else. We just had to watch it leave and decide amongst ourselves if we knew where we needed to get off. That was all because it gets to the station, loads, unloads, and leaves in less than 40 seconds. But now I know! So next time we know the procedures and how quickly to move. Push and Shove, push and shove.
Tonight we saw a production of Straight Line Crazy at the Bridge Theatre in London. It was about Robert Moses, the designer behind many of the roadways and parks in New York. It was a play about passion and ultimately how his unchanging views of the lower class and his obsession with cars, held him back from helping the very people he sought to help. My favorite part about the production was the acting. The story being told from these talented actors I thought was very good. Andrew and I spoke about how we thought the acting was slightly characterized. Just a slightly heightened reality. I had no issue with this as I knew exactly in the first couple of minutes what world this play lived in. The set was minimal but I felt as though it helped bring the attention to the actors specifically. When there was pieces on set, it was larger pieces that were very very specific to the scene and the mood. I did not feel throughout the whole play that nothing was taken away from the minimal set. I was taken out of the play in several moments due to the lights turning on in places that people were not standing yet. I understand at the start of the scenes, but throughout they kept having half of the stage dark, and half light, and then turning on the other half! I didn’t understand why and it was not pleasing to the eye.
A wonderful thing about this theatre, is that it is right next to the beautiful London Bridge.
The majority of my first moments in London were spent in pure exhaustion trying to recover from the flight. I feared that I would get no sleep, so I was adamant about walking around the city to keep myself awake. After situating myself in the hotel, I set out with my roommate to an Egyptian museum and a Waterstones where I enjoyed a delicious mocha. Those two buildings showed me how the outside surface area can fool the observer to the number of artifacts or books that can be held in its layers. London has a different atmosphere than America. One of my favorite variances is the historic buildings and churches scattered across every corner.
Learning the polite culture and traffic laws was a bit intimidating at first but it was easy to pick up on. I love the weather because I feel so invigorated while walking across the city. I enjoy seeing all the diversity and it brings such great food to London. Twenty-four hours in and I have already eaten Thai and Indian.
Our class experience on the tube reminded me of the busy nature of the Paris Metro. Everyone is squashed together with the doors opening and closing very quickly. Although it may be uncomfortable for some, I really like the tube as a means of travel. It feels efficient to utilize the tube. I have always idolized those who were able to read a book on the way to work. I am more nervous about navigating it myself and learning how to jump on and off multiple lines. I am hoping it becomes more natural so I can take off on my own adventures.
Straight Line Crazy is the first play I have seen outside of a college production, and I loved the experience. I thought that the theatre felt intimate. I could see and hear the emotions of the cast clearly. It was a little surreal seeing Ralph Fiennes especially after visiting Platform 9 and ¾. His performance elevated my enjoyment of the play. I knew nothing about Robert Moses going in, so I thought it was going to be a slower documentary. It took me a little bit to get into the play, but I started to become engaged when the Governor of New York started to interact with everyone. I was taken aback by the humor with the mix of thought-provoking ideas like morality, power, and the people. One line Moses said towards the end was that “I would rather be right and stand alone.” He had a myriad of issues, but I felt that his inability to compromise led his influence to eventually evaporate.
All in all, it has been a spectacular time in London. I am anxiously waiting to explore more of London’s historic sites and see more plays.
I knew immediately that I would fall in love with London. However, I was skeptical to again adventure overseas due to my previous journey to Paris two years prior—fearing that it would be redundant. But I have to say that I was most assuredly wrong to hesitate. London in many was is similar to Paris: they are both large cities, capitals of first world countries and also extremely expensive to live in. However there are a few key differences that are stark. Namely the lack of language barrier, the focus on walking rather than the metro/tube system and the cultural diversity of London. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to eat. I will seldom turn down a good meal. Both places have unique offerings. France is the birth place of modern fine cuisine. The proving grounds of the greatest chefs in the world. However in Paris, the best food is undoubtedly French as one might suspect, but London is the opposite. England does not have a stellar reputation when it comes to its native cuisine, but where it excels is the diversity of food that has been gathered. London, as of the time I am writing this, is the culinary capital of the world. This diversity is what immediately struck me when I entered London. So far, every piece of food that I have tried has been from a different part of the world and was filled with the culture that it came from. This is only possible because of the English’s natural understatement. It’s like London was a blank canvas on which any culture was invited to make its contribution. This is markedly what separates London from any other city I have had the pleasure of visiting. It simply has no identity while maintaining thousands of different ones.
Authentic Chicken Biryani
Part 2: Minimalism at its Finest
This evening we witnessed “Straight Line Crazy” and to say it was compelling is a gross understatement. What drew me in was the minimalism. Despite having the budget and cast to warrant a much larger and flashier set and stage, they instead chose to have key objects on stage and left the stage relatively uncluttered at the beginning. This was marvelous because the play begins with Moses on stage, totally empty but happy in the place he loves. Throughout the play many objects are added to the point where the map has taken over the entire floor. He is surrounded by things and people at the end, but he is haunted by the true emptiness that his life has amounted to. Moses is not portrayed as being a evil man but it is clear that his focus was on the wrong thing all along. I walked out of this play moved, grieving for a man that gained a legacy at the loss of his wife and closest friends. My review is this. It is a must watch play that breaks down what it means to live a life that leaves a legacy. It is easy to write off this as a story about greed or classism, but I believe that would be missing the point entirely. This is a play about a single man, how he lived and how his legacy shaped New York.
Theatre in London U of A 