EXCLUSIVE: Patriots, the hot new play by The Crown’s Peter Morgan, has recouped during its 12-week run in London’s West End, making a move to Broadway more than likely.
The play’s success is a remarkable achievement. Transferring the drama from the Almeida Theatre in Islington to the Noel Coward Theatre was a risky proposition to start with and it was always a gamble.
All those involved were nervous, including Morgan, I understand.
The production team wondered whether audiences would be drawn to a story about Russian oligarchs and the rise to power of Vladimir Putin. But, as producer Sonia Friedman says, the play is both “incredibly timely and relevant,” although she notes that Morgan “wrote the bulk prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
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Rupert Goold, the show’s director and artistic chief of the Almeida, says that he and Morgan began discussing the idea of Patriots “several years ago” before workshopping with a group of actors. “We just didn’t know if people would be interested,” Goold admits.
Goold and Morgan assembled a cast led by Tom Hollander (The White Lotus, The Night Manager) as the billionaire oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who was initially friendly with Putin; indeed helping him rise to the top. But Berezovsky soon fled to the UK, fearing for his life.
Goold also picked another Crown alum, Will Keen, to portray Putin, a role that would later win him an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The production makes for gripping theater but, in my opinion, there’s little doubt that audiences were drawn to the Almeida, and later the Noel Coward, because Putin’s name was being mentioned in headlines and on TV news bulletins hour after hour due to his actions in Ukraine.
After one performance at the Noel Coward, I heard a women tell her friend that she found Morgan’s play “electrifying” and that it helped her better understand happenings in Ukraine.
Friedman says Patriots’ success “feels even more exciting” considering its short 12-week run at the Noel Coward and “its ambitious scale,” with a hefty cast of 16.
“Future in NY”
The celebrated producer calls Patriots “that rare thing, a powerful yet entertaining political play that’s both incredibly timely and relevant, a work which offers a unique perspective on the recent history of Russia, Putin and the ‘kingmaker’ oligarch, Boris Berezovsky, making it must-see theater with must-see performances.”
“I really hope it will have a future in NY,” she tells me.
There’s also been a lot of chatter about Netflix being interested in turning Patriots into a six-part drama. Goold declined comment on that specific but he says that Morgan “has considered doing a series in Russia with Russians in the cast, but that’s a long shot.”
I reached out to Morgan for comment but he was not available to discuss the hit status of his play. As a WGA member, he’s on strike, although Patriots being a stage play is not connected to the dispute.
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