Patriots at the Almeida Theatre starring Tom Hollander – review round-up

Patriots – History in the making

Peter Morgan has made a habit of writing about real-life figures. He tackled Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon, The Queen in The Audience and The Crown, Tony Blair in The Queen, Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, Brian Clough in The Damned United, and more. How well does he portray Putin and Berezovsky here?

Some critics think he nails it. For Theo Bosanquet (WhatsOnStage, ★★★), Patriots provides “a meaty drama of money, power, friendship and betrayal to enjoy”, while Rachel Halliburton (TheArtsDesk, ★★★★) calls it “as politically intelligent as it is entertaining".

Others, though, aren’t so sure. It is “predictably pacey and tartly entertaining” but “lacks texture and dimension,” writes Sam Marlowe (iNews), and both Andrzej Lukowski (TimeOut, ★★★) and Jessie Thompson (Independent, ★★★) agree. It is “an interesting, informative play” that “falls short of its ambitions” according to the former, and a work that is full of “witty lines, erudite speeches and moral conundrums” that is “weighed down by research and exposition” according to the latter.

And some reviewers really do not like it at all. For Dave Fargnoli (The Stage, ★★★), Morgan’s “methodical, cerebral” approach and “short, episodic scenes” rarely “generate enough conflict to really captivate". For Clive Davis (Times, ★★), the play is a “scrappy pageant” with “flimsy characterisation” and “an unwieldy combination of docudrama and thriller”.

Continues...

Patriots – Mercurial Hollander, captivating Keen

Tom Hollander’s three-decade career has included many critically acclaimed appearance on stage and screen – from his Ian Charleson Award-winning performance in The Way of the World in 1992, to his expletive-laden appearance in Armando Iannucci’s film In the Loop, to his extraordinarily entertaining turn in Tom Stoppard’s Travesties in 2016. He is excellent again here as Berezovsky.

The critics heap compliments on him. He is “charming, mercurial and physically graceful” for Lukowski, “monstrously entertaining” for Marianka Swain (LondonTheatre, ★★★★) and provides “a lead performance of genially ruthless charisma” for Marlowe.

“Teeth bared, eyes glittering and pate starkly shaved, Tom Hollander gives a riveting performance as the businessman, brimming with sardonic swagger,” writes Nick Curtis (Evening Standard, ★★★★), who emerges in his exile as “a truly tragic figure” according to Arifa Akbar (Guardian, ★★★). For Thompson, it is “one of the performances of the year”.

His supporting cast is equally acclaimed, but none more so than stage and screen stalwart Will Keen. His evolving Putin is “convincingly real” for Akbar, “hypnotically plausible” for Lukowski, and “magnificently chilling” for Dominic Cavendish (Telegraph, ★★★★). Halliburton, meanwhile, hails it as “a performance of pure brilliance”.

Continues...

Patriots – Divisive direction

During his time as artistic director of Headlong, then artistic director of the Almeida Rupert Goold has become known for his fast-paced, fleet-footed and fluid productions, including Lucy Prebble’s Enron, to Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III, to James Graham’s Ink.

Do the reviewers rate his direction here? Some do. His production is “typically zingy” for Lukowski, full of “theatrical fizz” for Swain, and “a deliciously pell-mell hurtle through the years” that is “lusciously livewire” for Cavendish.

Others, though, have issues with the structure (it’s too “episodic", says Fargnoli), the tone (it’s “more emblematic than emotionally involving”, says Bosanquet), the focus (lost in “a fog of talking points”, says Davis), and the varied voices (“I’m not sure why [Litvinenko] has a Scouse accent”, says Thompson).

There is unanimous praise, though, for Miriam Buether’s set design, a crimson-tinted creation that “variously evokes a bar, a catwalk, a Kremlin stateroom and a place of glory or crucifixion”, according to Curtis. It is “suitably gaudy” for Bosanquet, “suitably infernal” for Marlowe, and “intriguingly sinuous” for Cavendish.

Patriots – The verdict

All the critics heap praise on Hollander and Keen for their performances as Berezovsky and Putin respectively – Hollander is compellingly charismatic as the kingmaker, Keen darkly thrilling as the king he makes – but there is less agreement elsewhere.

Some reviewers think Morgan’s play is an entertaining and illuminating romp through recent Russian history, others think it is exposition-heavy and insight-light. Some reviewers think Goold’s production is typically exuberant, others find it a bit all-over-the-place.

That disagreement results in a range of reviews – from four stars from the Telegraph, the Arts Desk, the Evening Standard and LondonTheatre, to two stars in the Times. Appropriately enough, then, given the current global situation, there is a lot of uncertainty.