Description
WRITTEN BY
Dianne Nora
DIRECTED BY
Ensemble Member dado
PERFORMANCE RUN
May 8 through June 28, 2025
SEASON
Season 32
Chicago Premiere!
When Soso is left for dead on the Eastern Front, he’s taken in by the Kremlin due to his shocking resemblance to a certain someone. Koba is tasked with training him to perform the role of a lifetime: Stalin’s body double. While Soso is a performer—trained to dance, juggle, and tour the countryside entertaining peasants—Koba is an actor’s actor, a student of Stanislavski himself (maybe you’ve heard of his System?), committed to the pursuit of perezhivanie, or experiencing a character’s reality. Together, the doubles prepare for the Conference at Tehran, when three so-called Great Men (or were they merely players?) decided the fate of the 20th century.
CAST
Soso | Ensemble Member Esteban Andres Cruz*
Koba | Ensemble Member John Judd*
UNDERSTUDIES
Soso U/S | Rafael López
Koba U/S | Scott Westerman
CREATIVE TEAM
Director | dado*
Scenic Designer | Grant Sabin*
Costume Designer | Myron Elliott*
Lighting Designer | Levi Wilkins
Sound Designer | Angela Joy Baldasare
Props Designer | Ab Rieve
Violence Choreographer | Lana Whittington
Dramaturg | Tanya Palmer
Vocal Coach | Jason Martin
Technical Director | Tom Daniel
Stage Manager | Lauren Lassus
Assistant Stage Manager | Sheri Tarrer
Production Manager | Patrick Starner
Assistant Director | Tyler Struble
Script Supervisor | Niní Bagundo
Master Electrician | Duncan Hon
* Ensemble Member of A Red Orchid Theatre
+ Member of Actor’s Equity Association, Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers
Jeff Recommended
Recommended! “A play well worth seeing” – Newcity Stage
Recommended! “Cruz and Judd bring endearing and touching chemistry to Nora’s characters” – Chicago Reader
“At once an entertaining and an absolutely chilling story…Director Dado has brought out the innate humanity inherent in the friendship these men forge even in this difficult constricted situation and that connection brings home the impossibleness of what they are attempting…a show ripe with ideas to contemplate, and it’s wonderful if only to watch these two men world build for us in a deep way.” – Chicago Stage and Screen
“Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin is funny, tragic, and a love letter to theater, as well as a political history lesson. Playwright Dianne Nora has done a masterful job of creating the script and Dado’s two actors give extraordinary performances. Judd, in particular, is masterful in his movement and his character’s theatrical and political musings, while Cruz is manic and soulful.” – Third Coast Review
Gunshot, haze, and flashing lights.
A Red Orchid Theatre recognizes that sensitivities vary from person to person. If you have questions about the content, age-appropriateness, or stage effects of a show, please ask a Front-of-House staff member, email us at audience@aredorchidtheatre.org, or call 312-943-8722.
