‘Patriots’ Review: On Broadway, Tracking Putin’s Ascent

In fact Mr. Morgan’s engrossing play, now on Broadway after an acclaimed London run, depicts the rise of Boris Berezovsky, one of the Russian oligarchs who amassed vast wealth, often by shady means, during the tumultuous years after the fall of the Soviet Union. He is portrayed by the fine actor Michael Stuhlbarg, who gives a performance of unflagging energy and febrile intensity; in the play’s denser passages, one almost worries that he will begin hyperventilating, so caught up is he in Berezovsky’s fervent ambitions.