If ever there was an origin story you didn’t know you needed it’s that of Vladimir Putin. Having completed a sell-out run at the Almeida Theatre, and hot on the heels of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Peter Morgan’s new play, Patriots, is the latest Almeida production to transfer to the West End for a run at the Noël Coward Theatre.
Putin isn’t the central character here, instead it’s Boris Berezovsky, played with considerable bravado by Tom Hollander. We’re introduced to Berezovsky as a nine year old maths prodigy who grows up not as a mathematician but a ruthless businessman. In his attempts to open more car dealerships he attempts to bribe the ‘squeaky clean’ deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg – the man who would go on to become President of Russia.
In the way Morgan has become renowned for merging fact and fiction, often drawing criticism for doing so, Patriots imagines the events that led the Russian Oligarch to launch the careers of both Putin and Roman Abramovich. While the latter remained fiercely loyal to the former, Berezovsky turned against Putin and fled Russia taking sanctuary in England drawing the ire of Vladimir Putin.
Though not covered in the play, the real-life Berezovsky was found dead in his locked bathroom with a ligature around his neck, so audiences can draw their own conclusions as to how closely the play mirrors reality. Another prominent character is Berezovsky’s bodyguard, Alexander Litvinenko (Josef Davies), and we all know how he met his untimely end.
As audience members nudge each other, recognising familiar names and real life events, they also take in the imagined conversations and political wranglings that led us to a world where Putin remains in power without domestic opposition. Even those not familiar with, or interested in the politics of it all will be gripped by the ever-shifting power-plays in action, and perhaps even slightly terrified at just how far Putin’s influence stretches.
Miriam Buether’s set resembles a glamourous bar, highlighting the excesses of the era and Rupert Goold’s direction keeps the production upbeat and fast-paced. Will Keen is chillingly good as Putin, evolving as the play progresses from straight-laced family man to maniacal tyrant in the space of just a couple of hours. Luke Thallon is as engaging as ever as the young Roman Abramovich, bringing a cool resignation to the fate that lies ahead.
Patriots is a fine example of what Peter Morgan does best, it takes the key facts that most people already know, and shapes and entire narrative around them. How much of what happens on stage is actually true is anybody’s guess, but regardless, it’s riveting from start to finish.
