All the saddest things about the funniest political stand-up of Putin's Russia, Citizen Poet reveals its behind-the-scenes.

How was it possible in the early 2000s to predict the horror that is happening in Russia now?

Citizen Poet (2011-2023) was a popular poetic stand-up show based on parody interpretations of classic works performed by one of the most popular Russian actors Mikhail Efremov. The theme of the Citizen Poet is a mockery of the most significant events in Russian (and sometimes world) politics.

The project was distributed on Youtube (tens of millions of views) and at live concerts (more than a hundred concerts, including Ukraine, USA, Israel, Germany, Spain, France).

Not Dead Yet, Back to Citizen Poet (the so-called "author's afterword") is a kind of talk show by the producer/director of the project, the former long-time head of the Kommersant Publishing House Andrei Vasilyev and the author of a good half of the poems of Citizen Poet, the popular Internet poet Andrey (Orlusha) Orlov.

The show is "making of" a decade of artistic mockery of Russian politics and Russian society, illustrated with photo and video materials. The evening will reveal political, creative, personal, and censorship challenges unknown to either a wide or a narrow circle of viewers, which both Citizen Poet and its participants had to face.

The performance will feature new unknown poems by Orlusha and will be accompanied by Citizen Poet's musician Vasya Oblomov, who will also present his most popular and new songs.

This show will be performed in Russian.

Produced by Yelena Durden Smith and Vlada Lemeshevska for Xameleon Theatre.

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