Review: PATRIOTS, Noel Coward Theatre

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

We’re all aware of the corruption that pollutes governments at home here in the UK and in countries across the globe. It’s an evil inevitability that power goes hand in hand with wealth. Nowhere more so than in Russia, which is the subject of the Almeida Theatre’s transfer production of Patriots.

With all the scope of an epic film, this play covers the life of Boris Berezovsky. Mathematician turned businessman turned political meddler, who may just have been the reason for catastrophic destruction as he assists Vladimir Putin in his regretful rise to power.

Yes, it’s a lot to cover, isn’t it? Yet over two hours and fourty minutes, one leaves the theatre with a sense of understanding and perhaps disgust in these characters that grace the stage. Maybe it’s morbid curiosity, but the material is entirely compelling. In the same way The Lehman Trilogy created a sense of prestige with slick direction and charismatic performances, Patriots achieves a similar effect…

Tom Hollander carries the momentum of this huge undertaking as Berezovsky with an under-the-surface evil, delivered with a smile and blazé attitude that you can’t help but be fascinated by. From the very first scene, Hollander makes clear who this man is, allowing the following few hours to feel almost inevitable. With the audience, he manages to walk the tightrope of hatred and awe.

Hollander is of course helped by a brilliantly put together text from Peter Morgan, that tracks an inevitable history in surprising ways. In Act One especially, it’s the interactions between characters such as Putin (Will Keen) and Roman Abramovich (Luke Thallon) that seem to be almost the reverse of what you imagine - Keen’s Putin is a small man, both in stature and in power, he’s nervous with physical tics that physically undermine his presence on stage - yet as Berezovsky provides his leg up, his presence grows as he fills out the shoes of the monster Putin became. To follow on from this, we also feel the need to shout out the casting of this show as a whole, done by Robert Sterne CDG.

Aided by the direction of Rupert Goold, this extensive exploration, that could easily be very tedious, has the pace of a well-oiled Bond film, as he combines a decisively piercing lighting design from Jack Knowles and excellent performances from his cast to create one impressive night at the theatre.

The only reason we’ve opted for a four-star review is this story’s ending. Although, undoubtably factually correct, it left us feeling mildly dissatisfied. There are no true consequences for any of the characters. Perhaps that’s the point - the show reinforces that these atrocities are going unpunished as we write this review. Yet coming away from the play, it’s almost as if it is missing a true conclusion.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Callum Wallace

Patriots plays at London’s Noel Coward Theatre until 19 August, with tickets available here.