National Theatre Live: Collaborators

From the archive

This film was last shown on 1 December 2011

A new play by John Hodge

Moscow, 1938. A dangerous place to have a sense of humour; even more so a sense of freedom.

Mikhail Bulgakov, living among dissidents, stalked by secret police, has both. And then he’s offered a poisoned chalice: a commission to write a play about Stalin to celebrate his sixtieth birthday. Inspired by historical fact, Collaborators embarks on a surreal journey into the fevered imagination of the writer as he loses himself in a macabre and disturbingly funny relationship with the omnipotent subject of his drama.

Killing my enemies is easy. The challenge is to change the way they think, to control their minds. And I think I controlled yours pretty well. In years to come, I’ll be able to say: Bulgakov? Yeah, we even trained him. He gave up. He saw the light. We broke him, we can break anybody. It’s man versus monster, Mikhail. And the monster always wins.

John Hodge’s blistering new play depicts a lethal game of cat and mouse through which the appalling compromises and humiliations inflicted on any artist by those with power are held up to scrutiny. Alex Jennings plays Bulgakov and Simon Russell Beale, Stalin.

Cast List

Characters, in order of speaking

Mikhail Bulgakov ALEX JENNINGS

Yelena, his wife JACQUELINE DEFFERARY

Joseph Stalin SIMON RUSSELL BEALE

Vassily, ex-aristo PATRICK GODFREY

Praskovya, a teacher MAGGIE SERVICE

Sergei PIERCE REID

Grigory, a young writer WILLIAM POSTLETHWAITE

Anna, an actress JESS MURPHY

Vladimir, an NKVD officer MARK ADDY

Stepan, an NKVD officer MARCUS CUNNINGHAM