Theatre review: Churchill in Moscow

Howard Brenton's history plays have an eclectic scope that's previously seen him tackle everything from Ancient Greek philosophers to the Partition of India. He's also dealt with the life of Harold Macmillan, but for his latest play he goes for the British Prime Minister who must have been interpreted on stage and screen more than any other, as Roger Allam plays the title role in Churchill in Moscow (he plays Churchill, not Moscow.) Set in 1942, things look particularly dark for the Allies as the Nazis are making inroads into Russia and approaching Stalingrad. Meanwhile British forces have been depleted to the point that they'd be wiped out instantly if they attempted to invade Europe via the Channel - US troops will eventually supplement them, but they're not really feeling it just yet. Winston Churchill is on a secret diplomatic mission to Moscow to inform Joseph Stalin (Peter Forbes) of the bad news that D-day won't come until at least the next year.

He does, though, have the opportunity to sell the Soviet leader on the alternative plan to attack the Nazis in Africa and weaken them on the Mediterranean, but after a promising start discussions break down.

New plays at the Orange Tree are usually risky propositions that need the financial security of the classic revivals to make them viable, but the mix of established writer and star with a World War II story feels like it should be catnip to the theatre's demographic, and Tom Littler's production sold out easily. And after a couple of shaky shows Brenton has come back with one that both lives up to expectations and leaves us wondering where it's headed next.

Churchill is one of those people actors love to do impressions of, although in recent years they seem to be moving away from that a bit - in the Operation Mincemeat film SRB played Churchill very much in the style of SRB, and it probably won't come as a huge surprise that Roger Allam plays him very much in the style of Roger Allam. He's still of course a bullish figure, but as he's one whose natural sense of authority comes in part from his privileged upbringing, it's the kind of authority that really won't work on Stalin, whom Forbes plays with a Westcountry accent to illustrate a point the play makes about what his rural Georgian accent would sound like to Russians.

In fact experimenting with how diplomatic language sounds is a large part of the play: Mostly the actors speak in English regardless of what the characters would actually be speaking, but sometimes the Russian characters speak their own language; at others both Churchill and Stalin speak gobbledegook versions of English and Russian, to demonstrate what they sound like to their opposite number. The audience is sometimes as dependent on the translators as the characters are, while at others we hear the dialogue in English both times, making us very aware how accurate - or otherwise - the translations are.

Brenton's play seems to suggest that diplomacy is a symbiotic relationship between the great men who take the credit in the history books, and the teams behind them: Translators Olga (Elisabeth Snegir) and Sally (Jo Herbert) are tasked with coveying the exact meaning, but they're also being coached by Soviet foreign secretary Vyacheslav Molotov (Julius D'Silva) and UK ambassador to Moscow Archie Clark Kerr (Alan Cox,) as well as using their own discretion to soften some of the rough edges of the combative leaders. But in the end both support teams are dismissed, and the fate of the world is left to a pair of ageing drunk men communicating largely in gesture and emotion.

The inclusion of Stalin's daughter Svetlana (Tamara Greatrex) is an underdeveloped afterthought - I thought maybe she was there as the one person whose values embraced both sides over the course of her life, but it really feels as if she's going to become more important to the resolution than she actually does. But the way the plot unfolds its themes is really satisfying, from the essential problem that both sides think the other is going to betray them and join Hitler (and they've lied to each other about so much else their assurances to the contrary mean nothing,) to the final confrontation between Churchill and Stalin coming down to them both knowing they're the heads of empires that have done terrible things, but each having to maintain the conviction that theirs is the side that did them for the right reasons. The fact that it does so in such a sharp, often funny way, means the show has deserved its full houses.

Churchill in Moscow by Howard Brenton is booking until the 8th of March at the Orange Tree Theatre (returns only.)

Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Tristram Kenton.