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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Arifa Akbar

Patriots review – Peter Morgan’s compelling study of Russian dissidence

Tom Hollander in Patriots.
Almost Shakespearean … Tom Hollander in Patriots. Photograph: Marc Brenner

While the urgent real-life drama of Russian oligarchs and Tory party donations rumbles on in the news, Peter Morgan’s play begins in 1991 and then explores the post-Soviet, post-perestroika era, when modern Russian oligarchy was born as businessmen scrambled to make their billions and assume the power of politicians.

Patriots circles around a group of high-profile dissidents, some now dead. Chief among them here is Boris Berezovsky, a talented mathematician turned businessman, and friend turned foe to Vladimir Putin.

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