Vladimir tickets

By: Erika Sheffer
Director: Daniel Sullivan
Producer: Manhattan Theatre Club
Cast list: Norbert Leo Butz (as Kostya), Francesca Faridany (as Raya), Erik Jensen (as Andrei), Olivia Deren Nikkanen (as Galina), Jonathan Walker (as Jim), Erin Darke (as Chovka), David Rosenberg (as Yevgeny)
Sets: Mark Wendland
Costumes: Jess Goldstein
Lighting: Japhy Weideman
Sound: Dan Moses Schreier
Other info: Original music by Dan Moses Schreier, projection design by Lucy Mackinnon, fight direction by Tom Schall, hair and wig design by Charles LaPointe, dialect coaching by Charlotte Fleck

Russia is, politically, a unique country in that it is technically a democratic federal government: elections are held to choose leaders, however, corruption and coercion commonly rig the systems and have kept Vladimir Putin in power for decades. Given its widely condemned war in Ukraine, Russia — which terms the battle a “special military operation” — is a major topic in the news today, but Erika Sheffer’s play takes audiences back to Putin’s first term after his surprising yet meteoric rise to power.

The press is largely government-controlled in Russia, which means the state decides what media its citizens consume. This can lead to warped descriptions of events and can challenge the safety of anyone who tries to tell their own narrative. Vladimir, then, exposes the realities and perils of one journalist working to uncover the truth. Worst of all, she wonders if her exposé, once published, will even have a lasting impact.

What to watch for

• Daniel Sullivan has made a name for himself directing intellectual works; Proof, for which he won a Tony Award, looked at a famed mathematician's daughters, and another Pulitzer winner, The Heidi Chronicles, explored brilliant women striving in a society that fails to see their fullness.
• This is not Erika Sheffer’s first time writing about Russia: previously, she wrote Russian Transport, produced at The New Group (Outer Critics Circle nomination) and Steppenwolf.
• Russia has cast a long shadow on geopolitical struggles, and also on contemporary theater: recently seen on the West End and Broadway, Patriots explored Putin’s rise to power.
• Sheffer is the recipient of The Vineyard’s Paula Vogel Playwriting Award. Her plays have been developed at The New Group, The Vineyard, and Primary Stages.