In 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the new Russia belongs to its oligarchs—and no one is more powerful than billionaire Boris Berezovsky. When an eventual successor to President Boris Yeltsin is needed, Berezovsky turns to the little-known deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin. But soon Putin's ruthless rise threatens Berezovsky's reign, setting off a riveting, near-Shakespearean confrontation between the two powerful, fatally flawed men.
Tony® and Emmy® Award nominee Michael Stuhlbarg stars as Berezovsky and Will Keen reprises his Olivier Award-winning turn as Putin in PATRIOTS, a shockingly timely history play from Peter Morgan, creator of Netflix's "The Crown."
Don't miss this strictly limited engagement of Olivier Award winner Rupert Goold's kinetic, exhilarating production, which reveals to us all how Russia's post-Soviet machinations continue to shape our world to this day.
Rupert Goold directs with a coach’s jingoism, an approach which moves things along quickly, sometimes loudly, and makes the most of Miriam Buether’s set: a palatial office cutting across a long, posh bar and flanked by raised balconies pegged to an imposing brick wall. Though Jack Knowles’ lighting and Adam Cork’s music and sound design similarly turn up the energy, they cannot create a character out of Berezovsky, of whom we learn very little. Lacking detail and focus, Patriots is a character study without much of either.
In a Broadway season filled with big performances, there’s none bigger or busier than Michael Stuhlbarg’s portrayal of Berezovsky. He leaves no gesture, no inflection, no dance step unexplored. Berezovsky was a child prodigy, but rather than taking his phenomenal aptitude for math and going into academia like a normal genius, he instead made billions by becoming Russia’s top oligarch after the collapse of the U.S.S.R. Stuhlbarg’s spewing of Morgan’s aphorisms recall the Old Fool in “Boris Godunov” and sometimes provokes applause from the audience. It’s not so much a dramatic performance as it is a musical-comedy performance without the songs.
General Rush
Price: $40
Where: Ethel Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street)
When: When the box office opens on the day of the performance.
Limit: Two per customer.
Information: Subject to daily availability.
Digital Lottery:
Price: $30
Where: PatriotsBroadway.com
When: 12:00 AM one day before the performance.
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Winners will be drawn the same day at 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM.
Videos