Patriots

Youngest sister very kindly gave me as a birthday present, tickets  to see this play at the Noel Coward theatre in London's St Martin's Lane. She also attended along with her  interesting friend Sarah Potter.

In St Martin's Lane  there used to  to be a small county court to which in legal practice days I  attended occasionally for an odd client or two but that courthouse like my legal practising days,  has long since gone.

The walk to the theatre from London Waterloo station took far longer than expected. Partly because believing I was too early, had decided to wait a while in the outside waiting room at Charing Cross Station. Unbeknown to me youngest sister and her friend Sara Potter, had decided to convene for an early lunch before the play commenced and partly because I missed the turning for St Martin's Lane near to Charing Cross and almost ended up at Piccadilly Circus.

As for the play itself: Contemporary politics in the form of Russia's Putin was at the core of the plot. Whether the storyline was at all accurate is hard for a non-historian like myself to judge.

Probably the review in London's Evening Standard covers  the core points of the play which is now at the Noel Coward theatre:

It’s only 11 months since Peter Morgan’s hectic, tragicomic battle of political wills between Vladimir Putin and Boris Berezovsky opened at the Almeida, but already the play has gained new weight and prescience. Tom Hollander again gives a barnstorming, almost demonic performance as the oligarch who wanted to “save” Russia through capitalism – at considerable personal profit to himself.

Again, he’s matched by Will Keen’s (Olivier Award-winning) twitchy but slowly hardening Putin, the monster who destroys his creator. I don’t think a line has changed in Rupert Goold’s production, but Patriots feels like a deeper and more densely thoughtful work now.

Personally, I found the play interesting but somewhat disturbing given Putin's ongoing invasion of and  war against, Ukraine. Nonetheless the  show was enjoyable and though not apparently a sell out, the auditorium was pretty crowded.

After the performance, we adjourned for drinks and a chat at the nearby National Gallery restaurant. I enjoyed   a non-alcoholic  lavender cocktail which was delicious and the conversation too was fascinating. 

Much to our surprise the  restaurant staff upon learning that we had been to the theatre  as a birthday treat from youngest sister, brought out a small birthday cake with three spoons, which added to the fun.