Review: PATRIOTS, Almeida Theatre

A regime has fallen and the new ruling class is gearing up to take over. Allegiances run on the razor's edge and "Today's patriot can become tomorrow's traitor". United Kingdom, 2022? No, Soviet Union, 1991.

Peter Morgan thrusts us in a universe where 1.3 billion is an understated sum as he follows the rise and fall of businessman Boris Berezovsky, from billionaire extraordinaire in the president's inner circle to the very top of his men's hit-list.

In practice, Patriots depicts Vladimir Putin's ascent to power. Rupert Goold directs Tom Hollander in a riveting production. Morgan usually writes heavily political drama that's intriguing enough emotionally to engross the average audience, but this piece is pure cat-and-mouse action.

A few redundant strings of dialogue drag the piece down when compared to the quicker scenes, which are imbued with modern flair in speech and pace and an almost cinematic feel to them. While the text is specific in its politics, it's ultimately quite the reductive and simplistic look at a complex time period. The decisions relating to the state of the country are made over a game of hot potato played on the phone, but we only hear the fallout from Berezovsky's side.

We are not privy to the discussions and we're not given the opportunity to learn what the societal implications of these choices are. It's the footnotes of these business transactions that are staged, but the entire picture stays put behind the closed doors at the back of Miriam Buether's set. While Morgan doesn't offer the necessary background information to understand the reasoning behind Berezovsky's operations, throwaway comments hint at the end results and the necessary details are strung into the dialogue.

Morgan's bleak romanticisation of Berezovsky lacks emotional grip, but Hollander's performance makes up for this lacuna in the script. The writer offers a treatment à la House of Cards but with very little of its Richard III in it. He chooses to abstain from outright criticism, but also avoids implicating the effects of Berezovsky's actions on a personal level.

The magnetism of the oligarch's path towards exile and the weight of the stripping of his badges of honour comes from Hollander's delivery alone. He has a madman glint in his eyes that conceals the sleaziness of the worst of politicians, as he spins his web from the heart of Russia's economy.

An astute and ruthless entrepreneur who revels in the stature of his reputation, Hollander is blasé and cheery when everything goes according to plan, but turns into a pensive and sullen Berezovsky when his position is threatened. He lashes out, slipping into clownish territory with irate fuck-filled explosions. It's only when his voice lowers to a terror-stricken growl that Hollander finally makes him human.

Berezovsky's socio-political influence sees the attraction of a bashful and awe-struck "kid" in Luke Thallon's Roman Abramovich and a quiet, scheming Putin with an impressive comb-over. Thallon hides Abramovich's ferocious instinct for business as he looks adoringly at the floor in his fangirlish conversations with Berezovsky.

Will Keen's Putin transforms from a controllable puppet to a "nationalistic dictator", leading to Berezovsky's loss of position and money. As he becomes President, Keen stretches tall from his diminished, unconfident stoop. He practises his stance in the mirror as Berezovsky's banishment grows into a question of pride and business.

Although Patriots really calls for a specific interest in the subject, Goold's enthralling direction succeeds in covering the lulls in the script. Scene changes are set to music and interactions between characters have visual rhythm and great spatial awareness whether they meet in person or not. Putting it simply, it looks great.

Goold might turn to a rather stereotypical introduction of Russia at the beginning with loud dancing and splashes of vodka, but establishes the language barrier cleverly with the use of songs and news reports smoothly interpreted in English by the characters on stage.

The impressive synergy between Goold and Jack Knowles's lighting design is crowned in a scene where Berezovsky switches on Putin's tv intervention and then plays with its sound. Hollander points the remote at Keen and, with a click, a spotlight shines on Putin from the shoulders up. Further point-and-click actions mute and unmute his speech as Berezovsky speaks to Abramovich of his master plan to get Putin on the presidential seat.

Buether's set allows Goold a broad scope of movement. The stage is an ample cross swathed in red with the aforementioned huge medieval-looking door at the back. Neon lights and chandeliers move between the Kremlin and the other locations, but the use of props is scant and far apart. It's clear that the characters and Morgan's stylish point of view are all we need.

The writer doesn't ever let Berezovsky's emotional side take hold, twisting the tale in the context of patriotism but giving a foggy definition of it. Patriots becomes an intriguing historical snapshot inhabited by excellent performances in an exciting production, but doesn't quench the thirst for drama as these people's emotional spheres keep being elusive and many aspects of the story are glossed over.

Like the swift, shushed glance at the British involvement in Berezovsky's affairs, offered half-heartedly by Morgan as something that had to be included out of transparency when treating his exile in England. It's a compelling, thought-provoking piece on many levels, but it's not Morgan's best script.

Patriots runs at the Almeida Theatre until 20 August.

Photo Credit: Marc Brenner

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