After winning an Olivier Award for playing Vladimir Putin in “Patriots,” Will Keen—now on Broadway—talks about mixing rage, betrayal, ruthlessness, and comedy to create a dictator.
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Portrait by Enrique Cidoncha/Stills by Matthew Murphy, and you will notice it stays immobile—or as still as Keen can possibly make it. His Putin is so menacing the audience tangibly stills with his every icy appearance; at London’s Almeida Theatre—where Keen first performed the role that he won an Olivier Award for—he was so convincing he was booed at some curtain calls.
Keen, who is bald, has one wig he wears as Putin—mussed-up at the beginning when he is deputy mayor, and then sleek and sharp at the end when all power—and his ruthless, possibly murderous command of all he surveys—is his. The play—through Berezovsky, Putin, and the character of Roman Abramovich —explores the competing forces within a country at a time of change—rampant capitalism, hard politics, transactional relationships, power games, and corruption. For Keen, Putin has a literal strong attachment to the earth and his loyalty to the figure of Mother Russia—“which can be expressed in all sorts of ways and become more or less intense or indeed destructive.
After Eton, Keen talked to his parents and sisters about going to drama school, but his father encouraged him to go to Oxford, saying, “It’s something you’ll have for the rest of your life.” “Fame is not an object for me,” Keen insisted. “Of course one wants to have opportunities, good parts, and good writing. What I love about acting in general is the thing of making something together—and, in theater, that being in real time, shared with people, actors, the whole company, and audiences, in a room. Fame doesn’t float my boat.
The play feels darker on Broadway “in a way” than it did in London, Keen said. “I don’t know whether that has to do our vision of Putin, which has changed again over the last two or three years. When Russia first invaded Ukraine it was so astonishing and jaw-dropping. It felt terrifying. But now there’s something sclerotic about it. It’s become harder, more dogged. Also, the American collective psyche around Russia is different to Britain’s.
Vladimir Putin Broadway Boris Berezovsky Theater
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Vladimir Putin declares national day of mourning for victims of Moscow concert hall terror attackRussian President Vladimir Putin declared a national day of mourning on Sunday for the victims of a terrorist attack on a concert hall outside Moscow that killed more than 130 people.
Read more »
Vladimir Putin’s Emergency Plan for Russia’s Spiraling BordersVladimir Putin’s new proposal for Russia’s borders might just be a thinly veiled attempt at seizing more Ukrainian territory, experts warn.
Read more »
Vladimir Putin says 'radical Islamists' responsible for concert hall massacre, still accuses UkraineRussian President Vladimir Putin on Monday for the first time accused 'radical Islamists' of carrying out last week's attack on a concert hall outside Moscow, but continued to strongly suggest that Ukraine was still involved despite strong denials from Kyiv and Washington.
Read more »
Video misquotes Russian President Vladimir Putin'Russia’s President Putin makes a shocking announcement,' read the text above a video of Russian President Vladimir Puti
Read more »
What Does the Moscow Terror Attack Say About Vladimir Putin?See multiple perspectives from Financial Times, Wall Street Journal (Opinion), and Bloomberg at AllSides.com.
Read more »
This must-watch Alex Gibney documentary explains so much about Russia and Vladimir PutinAlex Gibney's 2019 documentary Citizen K, available on Prime Video, is a fascinating history of Putin's increasingly repressive Russia.
Read more »