The balance of power is dangerously uneven in David Hare's The Vertical Hour, receiving its premiere production at The Music Box.
The play itself is immensely entertaining – if entertaining can be considered an appropriate adjective in this case – when the playwright's primary players battle their mutual fascination for each other during a wine-infused debate over the pros and cons of the Iraqi War like they're
James Carville and Mary Matalin on a first date. But the author's climactic moment rings false and despite an otherwise admirable production by director Sam Mendes, leading player
Julianne Moore is unconvincing in her role and overmatched by co-star Bill Nighy.
Moore plays Nadia Blye, a former war correspondent whose experience under fire in Bosnia and the Middle East has earned her so great a reputation in dealings with terrorism and warfare in impoverished areas that after 9/11 she was called to the White House to advise President Bush on how to proceed. She supports the Iraqi War for humanitarian reasons, feeling it's the duty of the strong to help the impoverished.
As the play commences, Nadia has retired to a professorship at Yale University, where, despite what she describes as her liberal Connecticut upbringing (It's suggested she disagrees with Bush on every issue except Iraq.), she feel's marked with a scarlet letter "B" by students and associates. Her apolitical boyfriend Philip (Andrew Scott) is a physical therapist and personal trainer who attracted her with his calming manner. Nadia is accustomed to being there in times of crisis while Philip's calling is to prevent crisis.
The bulk of the play takes place outside the rural Wales home of Philip's dad Oliver (Nighy), an accomplished physician who has retired into isolation, keeping up a small practice that provides him with enough to eat and to afford decent wine. Though Oliver and his son have been long estranged, Philip wants the two to meet, though he warns Nadia that his womanizing father is apt to make a play for her.
After pleasantries are exchanged and exposition divulged, we proceed to the lengthy opening scene of Act II, which is where
The Vertical Hour is at it's most theatrically compelling.With Philip fast asleep, Nadia and Oliver, a staunch opponent of the war ("I knew who the surgeon would be so I had a fair idea what the operation would look like."), are left alone for a 5AM discussion of personal and public politics. A bit like
Meet The Press with an open bar, this is where Hare's dialogue is sharp and intriguing as the two match argument for argument. As the scene progresses, lighting designer Brian MacDevitt gradually and gorgeously allows the sun to rise over Scott Pask's spare, but effective set, subtly enhanced by sound designer Christopher Cronin. Unfortunately, it's the political arguments, not the personal developments, that are most memorable in
The Vertical Hour, and with Hare's unsatisfactory conclusion to their skirmish, the play seems emotionally empty.
Moore's limited performance doesn't help, lacking in stage presence and emotional depth. In an opening scene where she admonishes a student (Dan Bittner) for being attracted to her from her television news appearances ("Smart women are not there to turn on men.") she seems more an oversensitive college freshman than the person referred to as a brilliant professor and an articulate correspondent. Her character lacks the poise and maturity of someone used to dodging bullets. She's passionate alright, but unfocused and rarely interesting, especially when partnered with Nighy, whose Oliver is a fascinating collection of physical quirks and vocal inflections that are both amusing and suggestive of the troubled soul that is eventually revealed. Provided with both Hare's cleverest and most sobering lines, his sharp delivery and complex manner rise above the evenings failings.
The Vertical Hour is the kind of play that should send audiences out of The Music Box primed to discuss important issues of the day, and that, of course, is a good thing. Unfortunately, there's little in the piece to inspire discussion about Nadia and Oliver.
Photos by Paul Kolnik: Top: Julianne Moore
Bottom: Julianne Moore and Bill Nighy
