A timely new play is heading to Broadway. “Patriots,” Peter Morgan’s drama about the long aftermath of the Soviet Union’s fall, will arrive at the Barrymore Theatre in spring of 2024. Sonia Friedman will produce and Rupert Goold will helm the production, an Olivier Award-nominated transfer from London’s Noël Coward Theatre, which followed a debut with the Almeida Theatre, where Goold is the artistic director. Broadway previews will begin on April 1 ahead of an opening night of April 22 for a limited engagement through June 23. The Barrymore Theatre is the current home to “Harmony,” which is scheduled to conclude its run on Feb. 4.
“Patriots” will be headlined by original London star Will Keen, who will re-create his Olivier-winning performance as Vladimir Putin. Keen will appear alongside fellow West End cast member Luke Thallon in the role of Roman Abramovich, with Tony-nominated actor Michael Stuhlbarg portraying Boris Berezovsky. Additional casting, by Jim Carnahan, is still to be announced.
Winner of London’s 2023 Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Play, “Patriots” is set in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union, when 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 confrontation between the two men.
Morgan, author of the 2007 Tony-nominated play “Frost/Nixon” and the 2015 drama “The Audience,” is perhaps best known for his screen work as the Emmy Award-winning creator of “The Crown.” His film achievements have netted him 2007 and 2009 Academy Award nominations for adapted screenplays of “The Queen” and “Frost/Nixon,” respectively.
Goold helmed three prior Broadway transfers from the Almeida: 2016’s “American Psycho,” 2015’s “King Charles III” and and 2019’s “Ink,” the latter two of which earned him Tony nominations. He co-wrote and directed the 2015 film “True Story” and directed the 2019 motion picture “Judy” (based on the 2012 play “End of the Rainbow”). The Almeida’s new stage musical “Tammy Faye,” directed by Goold, will move to Broadway during the 2024-2025 season.
In addition to Keen’s Olivier-winning performance in “Patriots,” his stage résumé includes prior Almeida productions, including 2006’s “Tom and Viv” and 2013’s “Ghosts.” His film credits comprise 2006’s “Love and Other Disasters,” 2015’s “Victor Frankenstein” and 2021’s “Operation Mincemeat.” He has been seen on television in “The Crown” and “Wolf Hall.” “Patriots” will mark his Broadway debut.
Stuhlbarg, for whom “Patriots” will mark his first Broadway appearance in almost two decades, earned a 2005 Tony nomination for his performance in “The Pillowman.” His extensive list of Main Stem credits also includes a performance in 1996’s “Taking Sides,” a 1999 replacement turn in “Cabaret” and an appearance in the 2001 play “The Invention of Love.” Stuhlbarg was Golden Globe-nominated for his turn in 2009’s “A Serious Man” and Emmy-nominated in 2018 and 2022 for respective turns in “The Looming Tower” and “Dopesick.”
Thallon’s credits on stages across the pond include the 2018 premiere of “The Inheritance,” a 2019 mounting of “Present Laughter” and the 2021 debut of “After Life.” He received an Evening Standard Award nomination for his performance in the Almeida’s 2017 production of “Albion.” “Patriots” will mark his first appearance on Broadway.
The creative team for “Patriots” will include Tony-nominated scenic and co-costume designer Miriam Buether, fellow co-costume designer Deborah Andrews, lighting designer Jack Knowles, Tony-winning sound designer and composer Adam Cork, movement director Polly Bennett and projection designer Ash J. Woodward. General management will be by TT Partners.
“For 20 years, Peter Morgan has pioneered a new mode of storytelling to illuminate our world,” said producer Friedman in a statement. “No other writer wrings so much human drama out of historical events, but ‘Patriots’ is his most urgent and essential play to date — an incisive deep-dive into 30 years of Russia’s past in search of its horrifying and harrowing present, something that should concern us all. Its London premiere at the Almeida and in the West End repeatedly seemed to reflect that day’s headlines and, with the world at a crossroads in 2024, it feels more immediate than ever. We are so fortunate that one of America’s greatest actors, Michael Stuhlbarg, will join us to play Boris Berezovsky, with Will Keen re-creating his Olivier Award-winning role as Vladimir Putin, and that Broadway audiences will get to experience Rupert Goold’s exhilarating production for themselves.”
