Collaborators

Collaborators is a joyous, wonderful script that sees the battle between Stalinist and counter-revolutionary idealisms played out in a satirical kerfuffle. The main players are the prominent Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov (Andy Simpson), a secret policeman Vladimir (David Woodland), and the General Secretary of the USSR himself, Stalin (Richard Cotter). 

Bulgakov’s new play has just had its first performance. While he’s known to harbour counter-revolutionary ideals, his work is not banned or even censored – he’s savvy enough to avoid this. A visit from Vladimir of the KGB, though, gives him a strange ultimatum: have your work banned or write a biographical play about Stalin, expounding his virtues. The looming threat of harm coming to family and friends is a lever that would move any principle. Unsure how he will bring himself to perform the task, Bulgakov is ‘gifted’ (or cursed?) with a helping hand, someone who knows the subject like he knows himself…

Performances are varied. Both Simpson as Bulgakov and Woodland as Vladimir have ambitious roles, and manage them credibly throughout. Michael Arvithis as Sergei (a worker who bleeds Stalinist virtues) commits to the silliness of his role. Bulgakov’s wife Yelena (Audrey Blyde) performs with a sense of great seriousness. Vasilly (Dave Kirkham) gives an understated and rich performance as an ageing Tsarist. The main pick of the night, though, must go to Richard Cotter’s Stalin, whose virtues and megalomania are transformed into sheer cheekiness. Never before has a mass murderer looked so personable. It’s sinister and an engaging watch.

The set is functional and beautiful (as it often is at New Theatre productions). Colleen Cook is responsible for the set, costumes and props. Cook is a magician and facilitates a clear backbone for the play, deserving of great accolades. 

Director Moira Blumenthal has selected a great script that examines differences between the masses and the individual, between fear and truth. The audience is privy to how flexible principles might become when everyday comforts hide transgressions of our morals. But while moments of brief pathos draw the audience in, there’s something arrhythmic about the way the action is weaved together. A strange lack of dynamism or punchiness in the dialogue has the audience sitting back quietly, struggling to engage to the fullest extent.