I think I liked this play more than Janie did.
It was a fictionalised…somewhat fantasised account of encounters (which did occur to some extent in real life) between the writer Mikhail Bulgakov and Joseph Stalin.
We were blessed with Alex Jennings as Bulgakov and Simon Russell Beale as Stalin, with Nicholas Hytner in the director’s chair.
In truth, I don’t think it was a great play. It was a very good idea for a play with some very good scenes within it, but as a whole it didn’t quite work for me as an entire play.
But there was enough really good stuff going on to please me plenty, on balance. Whereas I think Janie found it a little drawn out and confused/confusing.
The reviewers were more with me (on the plus side) than with Janie (on the “a bit muddled) side – click here for a search term that finds the reviews.
Below is a link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=972WDOQNMS0
…and the following vid is an interview with John Hodge, the playwright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjNmXug2D4k
