Surely, you’ve heard of Joseph Stalin, the controversial leader of the Soviet Union, but have you ever heard of Alexei Dikiy or Felix Dadaev? These are the two characters, based on real people, in Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin, a play following the lives of the two actors who are preparing for the riskiest roles of their careers: Stalin’s body doubles.
“Dianne Nora, who’s the playwright, has taken very interesting historical facts, which is the fact of Joseph Stalin’s body doubles during World War II, and created this entire world of what could have been — the training that one of those body doubles ended up experiencing,” says Savannah Miller, director of Playhouse on the Square’s NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting Competition that Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin won. The NewWorks competition allows six plays to be entered and examined by judges, but only two can be selected as the winners. (The other winner of this season was Coco Queens, which was performed last summer.)
Of Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin, Miller says, “It speaks to our current moment, with a new and old president coming into office. It speaks to critically evaluating our world leaders and what they are asking you to do. In this case, in Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin, they’re asking you to put your life on the line and you need to know exactly what you’re standing up for.”
The play, directed by Tony Isbell, encourages audiences to be more aware of what occurred in the past and how it affected people — not to mention how the past can easily become the present. “I hope that it makes them question a little bit more the world around them. And I hope ultimately that it just starts a dialogue. I think it’s a very, very timely piece,” says Miller.
The production is 90 minutes with no intermission, and it will run from this week until the week of the 26th. For more information about this newest production and Playhouse’s upcoming season as well as where to purchase tickets, visit playhouseonthesquare.org/season-2024—2025.
Six Men Dressed Like Stalin, TheatreWorks@TheSQuare, 2085 Monroe, through January 26th, Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m., $25/general admissions, $20/senior citizens, military, and first responders, $15/children under 18.