‘Patriots’ By ‘The Crown’ Creator Peter Morgan Sets Spring Broadway Opening

Peter Morgan’s play Patriots, the drama about the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s fall, will transfer from a celebrated London run to Broadway this spring, with previews beginning April 1 at the Barrymore Theatre ahead of a reported April 22 opening.

The limited engagement will run through June 23.

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The play, produced by Sonia Friedman with Rupert Goold directing, will star Will Keen, reprising his Olivier-winning performance as Vladimir Putin, with Luke Thallon, also a West End cast member, playing Roman Abramovich. Michael Stuhlbarg will portray Boris Berezovsky, with additional casting to be announced.

Official synopsis: 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.

Playwright Morgan is the Emmy-winning creator of The Crown, previously best known for the 2007 Tony-nominated play Frost/Nixon. Other credits include the 2015 play The Audience, and the films The Queen (2007) and Frost/Nixon (2009).

Goold’s credits include the Broadway productions of American Psycho (2016), King Charles III (2015) and Ink (2019). He co-wrote and directed the 2015 film True Story and directed the 2019 film Judy. His London staging of the musical Tammy Faye is set for a Broadway transfer next season.

The creative team for Patriots will include scenic and co-costume designer Miriam Buether, co-costume designer Deborah Andrews, lighting designer Jack Knowles, sound designer and composer Adam Cork, movement director Polly Bennett and projection designer Ash J. Woodward.

Broadway’s Barrymore Theatre recently became available with the announced February 4 closing of the Barry Manilow-Bruce Sussman musical Harmony.

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