Dr. Strangelove (2024): Not So Much Satire, As Satire “Product”

Steve Coogan-led Stage Adaptation of Kubrick’s Classic Film Has Easy Targets On Its Radar

Steve Coogan leads a solid cast in the West End stage adaptation of Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, as Sean Foley and Armando Iannucci breathe new life into Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film. I was there on opening weekend and enjoyed it!

But let’s get into the politics, which is more important and despite being about nuclear war is somehow… banal. 

Dr. Strangelove is the story of a US commander who goes mad and orders planes to nuke Russia because he thinks they’re making him impotent through flouridising water. The US President, his team, and his opposite number in Moscow try to contain the situation - and fail horribly.

This adaptation has the Russian President Dimitri Kissov modelled on Vladimir Putin, whose “hobbies” are listed as “suspicion and paranoia” - even his jokes are “mind games”. I prefered Kubrick’s original Russian boss, who was just a tearful, loquacious drunkard.