Collaborators in the Olivier

Collaborators transfers to the Olivier Theatre, where it will open the 2012 Travelex £12 Tickets Season for a limited run from 30 April.

A limited number of tickets are available for Collaborators performances in the Cottesloe Theatre up to 31 March. Check availability and book tickets on the ticketing page.

4 STARS 'Dream casting of Alex Jennings as Bulgakov and Simon Russell Beale as Stalin... A truly tremendous double act which thrills, chills and makes you laugh out loud - even though you know you shouldn't.' Daily Telegraph

4 STARS ‘Collaborators is fresh and energetic, with a thick, throbbing vein of grotesque humour.’ Evening Standard

4 STARS ‘Rare and special… An absurdly fantastic view of Stalin, and it’s seriously funny.’ The Times

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.

National Theatre Live

Collaborators was broadcast to cinemas across the UK and around the world on 1 December 2011 as part of National Theatre Live. Discover future broadcasts and find your nearest cinema and how to book.

New performances at the National

Booking for performances from 15 May opens as follows:
Supporting Cast: 1 Feb
Priority Members: 3 Feb
Advance Members: 8 Feb
NT News subscribers: 14 Feb
General public: 15 Feb 

Originally sponsored by Neptune Investment Management, the National Theatre’s Cottesloe Partner

original photos © Corbis