The News Agents - USA Billy Crudup on The Morning Show, moral cowardice, and Minneapolis as a police state
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Jan 29, 2026 
Billy Crudup, an award-winning actor known for The Morning Show and Almost Famous, talks about bringing High Noon to the London stage. He explores why the Western illuminates moral cowardice. He links the play to contemporary politics, protests, pardons and media dynamics. He discusses theater as a space to test ideas and respond to intimidation and mob tactics.
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Westerns As Moral Laboratories
- Westerns dramatize how societies create order amid chaos through individual moral clarity.
- Billy Crudup links that to Kant's categorical imperative as a secular guide for civic behavior.
Will Kane's Impossible Choice
- Will Kane plans to retire and marry a Quaker who rejects violence, but learns an ex-convict is returning.
- The marshal must decide whether to resume his duty despite community reluctance to help.
Cowardice Not Heroism
- High Noon reframes the story as one about cowardice and communal capitulation rather than simple heroism.
- Crudup sees direct parallels between townsfolk's refusals and modern moral cowardice in America.