BROADWAY SNAP-SHOT
by Russell Bouthiller

Dateline: December 4, 2006

THE VERTICAL HOUR

Summing up his initial impression of Nadia Blye (Julianne Moore), the woman his son has brought over from the United States, Oliver Lucas (Bill Nighy), an accomplished doctor living a bucolic life in England, concludes "...she has what Americans call 'issues.'"

The principal issue on British playwright David Hare's mind in THE VERTICAL HOUR is the very issue that played out in this year's mid-term elections. Come to think of it, the subject weighed in heavily during the 2004 presidential election, as well. The matter that conjures up heaps of intense debate is, of course, Iraq and in his new play making its world premiere at the Music Box Theatre, Hare presents two principal players with diametrically opposing views.

Nadia Blye is a former war correspondent who has laid down her notepad for an academic retreat as a professor at Yale University. What links her to Lucas is the doctor's son, Philip (Andrew Scott), who has taken his new girlfriend home to meet dear ol' Dad. There on the sprawling lawn of his Shropshire home, the good country doctor lays into his son's guest as if he were lancing a boil.

"In the United States," Oliver observes, "you're building an empire. We're dismantling one." This encapsulates the opposing perspectives held by Oliver and Nadia with respect to the role of the sole super-power in the quagmire of contemporary geopolitics. Nadia, who refers to tangle in Iraq as its "liberation," argues that the United States' actions were justifiable and well-intended. Oliver dodges the direct rebuttal and returns with a clever medical metaphor, "I knew who the surgeon was, so I had a fair idea what the operation would look like."

Directed by the Oscar-winner Sam Mendes ("American Beauty"), THE VERTICAL HOUR offers not one, but two stars making their Broadway debuts. A four-time Oscar nominee herself, Julianne Moore crosses over from film super-stardom just a number of months after another famous Hollywood actress, Julia Roberts, premiered before the footlights in THREE DAYS OF RAIN to a not-so-glamorous critical reception.

Bill Nighy, on the other hand, has been working the boards in Britain for quite some time and his inimitable talent is a most welcomed sight to see. Using every inch of his lanky body, Nighy exudes stagecraft from the very first moment he enters upon the stage. Flicking his long fingers or raising a craggily brow, Nighy captivates the audience with his rolling cadence and mesmerizing idiosyncrasies.

Andrew Scott does a yeoman's job as the son doing battle with his father's checkered history and his struggle to keep him in his life. Dan Bittner has an enthralling moment as Dennis Dutton, a student who has a mad crush on his extremely beautiful professor. And, Rutina Wesley catches our eye as Terri Scholes, the student who prompts Nadia's changing perspective in the end.

David Hare's THE VERTICAL HOUR certainly grabs us with its ultra-current subject matter and Sam Mendes skillfully enlivens this rather heavy material. Scott Pask's cool country setting contrasts nicely with the temperature of debate and Brian MacDevitt gently takes us from day to night with his smooth lighting. THE VERTICAL HOUR, sure to raise some contentious after-theater banter.