 No formal collaboration between Stalin and Bulgakov existed but the figure of Stalin as a monster inside Bulgakov's mind existed, and this was reinforced physically through the NKVD.Bulgakov did indeed write a play to order on the life of the young Stalin around the time depicted, entitled "Batum", which is regarded by modern critics as stilted and shallow.The terror of the tyrant led him to produce a play on demand which might have been written by the dictator himself.