A new play brings Boris Berezovsky back to life—the epic chutzpah, manic energy, restless intelligence, appetites and ruthlessness—amid a simplified tour of post-Soviet Russian politics
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskMr Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, spent a decade in prison before his release into exile in 2013; Berezovsky died in contested circumstances in the same year. Both numbered among the original Russian oligarchs: a small cadre of men who grew up in the Soviet era and in the bare-knuckle 1990s became more rich, more quickly than almost anyone ever had.
The star turn, though, is Will Keen as Putin. The stage is shaped like a nightclub bar, and for a while Putin sits on a low stool, unnoticed, before—literally and symbolically—Berezovsky yanks him up and into the action. Mr Keen mimics the snarl and seething menace of a hangdog who wants to be top dog. During his traceless rise from deputy mayor of St Petersburg toboss, prime minister and then the presidency, Putin’s nervy strut becomes a swagger, the posture hardens inside his better-cut suits.
The trouble with dramatising recent history, though, is that it can catch and overtake you. “Patriots” mixes current affairs with zany comedy, spicing the power struggles with cynical wisecracks and ironies of hindsight. “You, Volodya, are clearly a decent man,” Berezovsky tells Putin. “We must become close to the West,” Putin avers. There is a winking line about the size of his desk.
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