Presented by Next Stage Theatre Company
Tuesday 21st - Saturday 25th January at 7.30pm with a matinee at 2pm on Saturday 25th
“Killing my enemies is easy. The challenge is to control their minds”. (Stalin, Act 2)
Soviet Russia, 1938. All-powerful dictator Joseph Stalin has an idea. He wants someone to write a play about his life to mark his sixtieth birthday - and who better than his favourite author, Mikhail Bulgakov? There’s just one problem: Bulgakov can’t bring himself to do it, even though the trade-off proposed by Stalin’s henchman is that another of Bulgakov’s plays will finally be performed.
So Stalin decides on a personal approach, and when that doesn’t work, he comes up with another idea - why doesn’t he write the play, while Bulgakov runs the country? Sign a few forms, issue a few orders - job done. However, in a world where one man’s initials can have terrifying consequences, all kinds of unforeseen events can ensue. Who is manipulating who? And is there any room for conscience in a totalitarian society?
John Hodge - who adapted Trainspotting and The Beach for the cinema - won the Olivier award for best new play in 2012 for this thought-provoking black comedy. Based on real events, it shines a spotlight on a key period in Soviet history, when Stalin’s Great Terror was unleashed and conforming to his whims was, literally, a matter of life and death.
A Bath première, to kick off The Mission Theatre’s 15th year of bringing first-class entertainment to local audiences, Next Stage’s production of Collaborators sees the welcome return to the company of Steve Leanaghan as Stalin, with Brian Hudd as Bulgakov, plus a strong supporting cast, directed by Bob Constantine.
Rehearsal Photographs:
