Patriots

An unflinching story of ambition and the dangers of loyalty and love in the Soviet Union, by the creator of The Crown, updated and revised for the 2023 West End production.If the politicians cannot save Russia, then we businessmen must. We have not just the responsibility but the duty to become Russian heroes.1991. The Fall of the Soviet Union.With the dawning of a new Russia, there are winners and losers, and today's patriot can fast become tomorrow's traitor. As a new generation of oligarchs fights to seize control, we follow billionaire businessman Boris Berezovsky - the 'kingmaker' behind Vladimir Putin - from the president's inner circle to public enemy number one, in this unflinching story of patronage, ambition and the dangers of loyalty and love.Winner of the Critics' Circle Best New Play Award 2023, Peter Morgan's Patriots opened at the Almeida Theatre, London, in July 2022, and transferred to the West End's Noel Coward Theatre the following year. This is the revised West End edition.'Morgan describes his plays as an "odd collection of pas de deux - dances between very different kinds of people." This chemistry of opposition is the seam out of which he has mined some terrific tales . . . His newest eloquent exercise in warring dualities is Patriots . . . Morgan's unusually absorbing saga of Berezovsky's complex personality and tragic predicament - alienated both from his country andfrom himself - is definitely worth it. In the deadening heat of this confounding summer, it brings the refreshing novelty of intelligence and stimulation.' John Lahr