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Show: Patriots
Society: London (professional shows)
Venue: Noël Coward Theatre. 85-88 St Martin's Lane, London WC2N 4AP
Credits: By Peter Morgan. Directed by Rupert Goold. The Almeida Production presented by Sonia Freidman Productions.
Type: Sardines
Author: Paul Johnson
Performance Date: 06/06/2023
Patriots
Paul Johnson | 06 Jun 2023 23:08pm
Photo: Marc Brenner
The stylish Almeida production has finally opened in the West End (subtly directed by Rypert Goold) of Peter Morgan’s new play, Patriots. I remember playing David Frost in the amateur premiere of Frost/Nixon by the very same author over ten years ago. That was a play surounding the publicity of Watergate. In Patriots we see exactly how another political leader, Putin, came to power as Russia’s president, formed his oligarchs and it gives us a snapshot of how the man’s mind works and, therefore, ultimately why he decided to invade Ukraine.
As Vladamir Putin Will Keen is superb… well deserving of his Olivier award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Supporting who (?) you might say. The answer is Best Actor niminee, Tom Hallander (more credits than I can mention here) as the man who put Putin in place and became extremely wealthy in the process, Boris Berezovsky. A lot of Russians became wealthy individuals as part of the biggest BOYS’ CLUB in the world, but none more so than the country’e president who owns a vast fortune and, as Russia’s premier, is arguably untouchable – at least he was until the Ukraine invasion by Russia.
Back to the play and Hollander is brilliant as Berezovsky. The way he brings his sense of humour to the role is remarkable… but he does it. Also we don’t even hear Puitin speak until his rise to power through the ranks and as head of the KGB along the way is complete after the interval – but when we do it is worth taking note.
Also we see how ex-Chelsea FC owner ,Roman Abramovich, became one of Putin’s most trusted Oligarchs and the death (from poisoning) of Alexander Litvinenko – something that was directly put to Putin by Berezovsky over the phone (according to Morgan’s dramatic license) but was denied of course by the Russian president. Eventually after being promised a possible return to his beloved mother country Berezovsky writes a begging letter to Putin apologising for his past accusations… only for the Russian leader to rip up his potential reply muttering that “he’s not worth it.” Berezonsky hangs himself once he realises a reply from the top is not forthcoming.
I saw the play sandwiched between one of the play’s producers and ex-Daily Mail columnist Baz Bamigboye – now working for Deadline Hollywood (over a million followers on Twitter). I’ve never met him before but I wondered why people kept coming up to this guy and shaking his hand. I’ve not met Vladamir Putin ether and, unlike the former showbiz ‘celeb’, I don’t think I want to. Dislikable, ruthless and capable of murder.