Tony Nominee Michael Stuhlbarg and Will Keen Talk Patriots on Opening Night

Patriots, a political thriller that tracks the rise of the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on April 22. “It is kind of like a modern Shakespeare play,” Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky in a recently Tony-nominated performance, told The Broadway Show on opening night. “It's also very relevant and resonant for Americans in that it asks a lot of questions about what it means to be a patriot.”

“Obviously this country is having its own moment of exploration about what leadership might mean,” said the director Rupert Goold, “and the kind of leaders it wants. So I think American audiences have really responded to that and also what happens to a major superpower as it kind of moves into another phase.”

“It's very exciting to play someone who is so vivid in everyone's imagination,” said Will Keen, who won an Olivier Award for his performance as the Russian leader Vladimir Putin. “It’s particularly exciting to play in a piece which seems to change infinitesimally every day because of the daily news cycle—you are kind of aware that people are watching through a different filter every day.”