A play about an oligarch’s role in the rise of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the businessman’s mysterious death after falling out with the autocratic leader.
“Patriots” is a high-octane ride through a portentous historical episode, and to get ready for that journey, the play’s company has developed an unusual warm-up: Before each show, they play a backstage game with a Koosh ball.
The play, a late addition to the season, opted for a rare Monday matinee as its opening performance. So after the unorthodox warm-up at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, the cast walked a red carpet (on-brand, given the color’s prominence in Russian culture), followed by a number of actors from the casts of Broadway shows (here’s looking at you, Sarah Paulson) who were able to see a play without missing their own.
Also on the red carpet: Ted Sarandos, the co-chief executive of Netflix, which is making its Broadway debut as a producing entity with “Patriots.” “One of the things I learned from Norman Lear early, early on: I said, ‘What was your secret sauce back then, when you dominated television?’ and he goes, ‘I knew Broadway. I knew Broadway actors. I knew Broadway writers. And no one else did.’ That always rang in my head.”
Netflix has another reason for supporting “Patriots” — the playwright, Peter Morgan, created “The Crown,” one of the streamer’s biggest successes. Netflix is already seeking to develop “Patriots” for the screen.
Morgan noted ruefully “a sad currency to this play,” which he had written several years ago, but which is being staged in New York following the death in February of Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny. “It’s just become more urgent and more timely,” Morgan said.
But Morgan, who also wrote “The Audience” and “Frost/Nixon,” said he worries about the economic viability of plays on Broadway. “I just hope plays like this can survive,” he said.
