Vladimir Putin may now be Prime Minister, but he will be back as President very soon. It won’t happen in political circles, however, but on the stage of one Moscow’s most popular theatres. Figure skating fans will have their own interest in the forthcomin

The play is called ‘President on Vacation’. The authors describe it as a comedy that can also be interpreted as a philosophical proverb.  

According to its plot the president’s helicopter makes an emergency landing during a flight over a Siberian forest. The head of the state, his ministers and security guards have to make their way through the woods and come across a lonely house left in the wilderness. The people he meets there are fascinating – and this is how the Russian president gets a chance to learn more about his electorate.

The director of the play, Irina Lychagina, says that the story is not about any one president in particular. But the main character is easily recognisable: the writers of the play have drawn on the work of Andrey Kolesnikov, a journalist well-known for his publications about Putin, and parts of the ex-president’s speeches were inserted into the script without any changes. 

Yagudin, the 2002 Olympic Games gold medalist and four times World Champion, says he agreed to play Putin without hesitation, even if he feels a huge responsibility in doing so. He added that showbiz is something that attracted him after the end of his sporting career, with this role his stage debut. 

It is not the first time Putin has appeared in theatre or cinema. Two plays about him by European directors were staged in recent years. And in February, the film ‘A Kiss Not for the Press’, focusing on Putin’s private life, hit Russian screens.

There is now just a month to wait before the premiere of his latest stage appearance.