Award-winning theatre, film, and television actor Michael Stuhlbarg (Broadway: The Pillowman; Film: A Serious Man, Call Me By Your Name; TV: “Boardwalk Empire”) will return to Broadway for the first time in almost 20 years to star in Patriots, the Almeida Theatre production of the shockingly timely new play by Peter Morgan, creator of “The Crown.” Patriots, which critics have called “topical and terrifying” (Air Mail), is about billionaire Boris Berezovsky, the kingmaker behind Vladimir Putin’s chilling rise to power. Original London cast member Will Keen will recreate his mesmerizing Olivier Award-winning performance as Vladimir Putin.
Patriots, which won the 2023 Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Play, comes to Broadway following a record-breaking run at London’s Almeida Theatre where it was the fastest-selling new play in the theatre’s history, and a sold out 12-week run in the West End at the Noël Coward Theatre, where it recouped its investment.
Directed by Almeida Artistic Director Rupert Goold, Patriots will open April 22, 2024 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street). Previews will begin April 1, 2024. Tickets for the strictly limited 12-week engagement are on sale today at Telecharge.com, 212-239-6200.
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 (Stuhlbarg). “If the politicians cannot save Russia,” he insists, “then we businessmen must.” When an eventual successor to President Boris Yeltsin is needed, Berezovsky turns to the little-known deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin (Keen). But soon Putin’s ruthless rise threatens Berezovsky’s reign, setting off a riveting, near-Shakespearean confrontation between the two powerful, fatally flawed men.
Patriots will also feature original London cast member Luke Thallon (Evening Standard Award nominee for the Almeida’s Albion) as Russian oligarch and politician Roman Abramovich. Additional casting will be announced in coming weeks.
Patriots will also feature original London cast member Luke Thallon (Evening Standard Award nominee for the Almeida’s Albion) as Russian oligarch and politician Roman Abramovich. Additional casting will be announced in coming weeks.
Michael Stuhlbarg, who USA Today has called “the consummate character actor,” returns to Broadway for the first time since his Tony Award-nominated performance in The Pillowman in 2005. In 2009, he delivered a breakthrough performance in Joel and Ethan Coen’s film A Serious Man, which led to critically acclaimed performances in such films as Arrival, Seven Psychopaths, Lincoln, Blue Jasmine, Steve Jobs, Doctor Strange, Call Me By Your Name, The Post and The Shape of Water, among others. His television credits include “Boardwalk Empire” (two Screen Actors Guild Awards, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble), “Fargo,” “Your Honor,” “Dopesick” (Emmy Award nomination), “The Looming Tower” (Emmy Award nomination), and “The Staircase,” among others.
Will Keen won an Olivier Award for his performance as Vladimir Putin in Patriots. Other theatre credits include Ghosts and Tom and Viv at the Almeida; Quartermaine's Terms; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Elton John’s Glasses (West End); The Duchess of Malfi; The Coast of Utopia; Mary Stuart; Hove (National Theatre); The Tempest; Two Noble Kinsmen; Dido, Queen of Carthage; The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare’s Globe), among many others. Film credits include Operation Mincemeat, Frankenstein, and Love and Other Disasters. His TV credits include “Wolf Hall” and “The Crown.”
Peter Morgan is the creator of Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning “The Crown,” and returns to Broadway for the first time since The Audience in 2015. He has also been represented on Broadway with his Tony-nominated play, Frost/Nixon, later adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film. Other major films include The Last King of Scotland, The Queen, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Damned United and Rush, among others.
Rupert Goold is the Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre. His previous work on Broadway includes Ink (Tony nomination), American Psycho, King Charles III (Tony nomination), ENRON, and Macbeth. His production of The Hunt will open at St. Ann’s Warehouse next month, and he will direct the upcoming musical Tammy Faye for Broadway next season. Goold has received Olivier, Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard awards for Best Director twice and won the Peabody Award in 2011 for Macbeth.
The creative team for Patriots features three-time Tony Award nominated set designer Miriam Buether, co-costume designers Deborah Andrews and Miriam Buether, lighting designer Jack Knowles, Tony Award-winning sound designer and composer Adam Cork, movement director Polly Bennett and projection designer Ash J Woodward. Casting is by Jim Carnahan, CSA. US general management is by TT Partners.