Collaborators

<p>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.<br><br>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.<br><br><i>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.<br></i><br>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.<br><br><b>Collaborators</b> by John Hodge premiered at the National Theatre, London, in October 2011. It is published here with an introduction by the author.</p>