Great fun and good to see Mark Addy getting his rightful share of applause at the end as he joined the two 'greats. - DCH
20 Feb 12
My time of intensive / obsessive theatregoing has coincided with Simon Russell Beale's self-described teddy bear period. I didn't see him as Iago or Macbeth so it came as something of a surprise to find him cast as Stalin. John Hodge's play about a collaboration between Stalin and the mildly dissident writer Bulgakov begins with a dream of Stalin bursting out of a cupboard and chasing Bulgakov around the stage. It's like a Benny Hill sketch and frankly things don't improve much from that point on. To be fair I can't stand absurdist humour but the conceit that Stalin would let Bulgakov have a taste of power and decision-making at the height of the reign of terror whilst he wrote his own hagiographic play is risible. Nick Hytner and Beale have decided to portray Stalin as almost avuncular with a Gloucestershire accent and only the slightest hint of the monster beneath. Alex Jennings is more convincing as Bulgakov, willing to sup with the devil in order to get his plays performed and there is good support from Mark Addy as an NKVD officer and especially Jacqueline Defferary as Bulgakov's devoted wife. Hodge and Hytner might argue that Collaborators is more about Bulgakov than Stalin and a satire on state control and censorship, but my view is that a comedy about one of the most evil men in history is totally inappropriate. - David Baxter
20 Jan 12
I think this production was brilliant, and one of the best non Shakespeare productions at the NT in a long time. The cast was simply superb.
Its a production that kept you at the edge of your seat the whole way through, but it balanced out comedy and tragedy really well. I loved that instead of making one scene purely comic and another tragic and depressing they mixed it and that they never forgot to exclude the general atmosphere-this is Soviet Russia after all, where there is no free will or freedom and fear was an underlying emotion and feeling in every scene.
Simon Russell Beale was brilliant. When Stalin came in he had this type of joking schoolboy air around him, and you just think-hold on...is this supposed to be STALIN??? But SRB wove so much emotion and depth into the character, and you didn't even realise how much the character changed over the scene, that's how suble and brilliant it was. The joking and humourous side worked really well, but there was that dark side to him, that never let you let down your guard. SRB made the audience SYMPATHISE with Stalin, something I really didn't think possible, but in the end it was just manipulation. Manipulation or not Stalin was brilliant!
Alex Jennings was a brilliant Bulgakov, with warmth of character, wit, (sometimes) sarcastic humour and so very human-a talented playwright, opressed by the state he lives in, but persistent, always standing his ground. The way you can see Bulgakov change over the play is really amazing, and I think Alex jennings portayed his dilemma brilliantly. The character is in such an impossible situation, a situation which challenges every belief and promise you've ever thought of or you've ever made to yourself and to others and the stress is great. Alex jennings showed that really well.
The supporting cast was superb, and the set brilliant. i think staging it in the Cottesloe was a great idea I felt like I was in the play (And I was watching this on NT LIVE).
The ending was also brilliant, something I would never have imagined. Stalin didn't just mess with Bulgakovs mind, he messed with ours, and although I hate being manipulated, SRB did it brilliantly. :)
Once again, a stunning production, and a must see for who ever lives in London. - Laura H.
02 Dec 11
There are no greater actors working at the moment than Simon Russell Beale and Alex Jennings, and this wonderful new play gives them both the ideal vehicle. The rapport between them (as actors) is palpable, because their contrasting styles (Jennings all buttoned up and angst-ridden, SRB relaxed and at ease with himself) so wonderfully suit the characters they play. The play itself is a tour de force, and one is tempted to think that it is exactly the sort of play that Bulgakov would have written himself - a mixture of satire, high comedy and serious political comment. It is a miracle of compression, with scenes overlapping and flashbacks playing while the main action is still going on, but it is never obscure or confusing. It is good to see that it is to be transferred to the Oliver, for it richly deserves both a larger audience and a bigger stage. The best new play at the NT for many a year. - sc
26 Nov 11
When they first read the play, I would imagine the reaction was ‘how are we going to stage this?’, such is the cinematic quality of the writing – not surprising given the playwright seems to have only ever done screenplays before. Well, I suppose if anyone was going to pull it off, it would be Nicholas Hytner (with help from Bob Crowley’s clever set with four entrances – and what seems like a lot of dangerous angles).
The starting point is of course true. Stalin liked Mikhail Bulgakov’s The White Guard (brilliantly staged at the National just last year) which led to him being asked (?) to write something about Stalin. Beyond this, much is speculation and fantasy in John Hodge’s play. Stalin ends up writing most of the play about his early life while Bulgakov runs the country, benefiting from Stalin’s patronage to a point where it is almost Faustain.
This is all surprisingly entertaining and often funny (though it gets darker in the second half) with lots of short scenes interrupted by flash forward rehearsal scenes of the play what they are writing. Of course, when you have Alex Jennings as Bulgakov and Simon Russell Beale as Stalin, two of our best actors at the height of their powers, you’ve got a head start and both deliver the goods bigtime. Mark Addy is also outstanding as a secret service officer / intermediary and there’s excellent support from Nick Sampson as a doctor, William Postlethwaite (the late great Peter’s son) as idealistic young writer Grigory and Pierce Reid as Sergei, who inhabits the Bulgakov’s kitchen cupboard in true Bulgakov fashion!
It’s a fascinating picture of the mechanics of a tyranny and in particular Stalin’s. He only has to think of something and its done. There are acts of extraordinary generosity as well as vile deeds – everything, of course, for a reason. There is much depth to the characterisations of Bulgakov and Stalin and their mutually dependent relationship is intriguing.
At last a new play at the National worthy of the venue’s stature. - Gareth James
23 Nov 11
"A wig that sticks out at the back like a china shell." Sorry to contradict your scathing rhetoric, but Mr Russel Beale isn't wearing a wig in this production. I don't know who shopuld be more offended, the department in question or poor Mr Russel Beale himself. Please look a little closely next time before being so vitriolic. - Ms Casey
03 Nov 11
Great play on integrity of artists with an satirical twist. At times it felt like the actors were going to burst into song due to the domiant score but then are thrown back into the bleak reality of an oppressive system. Beale and Jennings are giving masterclasses and Addy as the "opponent" to Jennings´Bulgakov who is inevidably "eaten by the revolution" is a great asset to the play. The set is a major factor in the make or break of the production as it limits the actors movements and could have proved prone to interrupt the speedy flow of the action. It´s a great approach to the subject. Love to see it again. - Elisabeth
