Chicago Premiere Runs May 18 - June 22, 2025; Previews May 8 - 16
Chicago, Illinois (March 6, 2025) – A Red Orchid Theatre today announced that Ensemble Member Esteban Andres Cruz is set to play “Sosa” and David Cerda will portray “Koba” in the Chicago Premiere of Dianne Nora’s SIX MEN DRESSED LIKE JOSEPH STALIN, directed by Ensemble Member dado. The play runs May 18 - June 22, 2025 (with previews May 8 - 16) on the theatre’s stage at 1531 N. Wells St. Tickets ($35 - $50) will go on sale on Tuesday, April 8 at 12 p.m. at www.aredorchidtheatre.org.
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.
About the Artists
Esteban Andres Cruz (Soso) [they/them] is an ensemble member with A Red Orchid Theatre, last seen at AROT in Last Hermanos and they portrayed Sonia Sotomayor in workshop reading of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, A Living Document by Dianne Nora. Esteban has worked at many stages in Chicago and regionally. Off Broadway; Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven by Stephen Adly Guirgis (Drama Desk Award Nomination), the musical Cornelia Street by Simon Stephens, and the Yale Drama Prize winner Bathhouse.pptx by Jesus I Valles, all three world premieres. This Spring Esteban will be making their Lincoln Center debut in a musical about the Greensboro Massacre. Select Film: Spa Night (Cassavetes Award), Valley of Bones, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Xmas. Select TV: South Side, Easy, Chicago Fire, IddiotSitter, The Bridge, You’re The Worst, Awkward. Esteban is a Jeff Award winning actor and an After Dark Award winning choreographer. They will be making their Chicago directorial debut at City Lit Theater Summer 2025.
David Cerda (Koba) [he/she/they] is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Hell in Handbag Productions. He’s written and performed in multiple plays for the company including POSEIDON! An Upside Down Musical, Caged Dames, and The Drag Seed. The Drag Seed was also Cerda's off-Broadway debut when it transferred to LaMama Experimental Theatre Club. Past productions with A Red Orchid Theatre include Accidentally Like a Martyr and The Mutilated. David has worked at many other Chicago theatres, including Facility (The Ruse of Medusa), Court (The Mousetrap), and Sweetback Productions (The Birds). He has collaborated in the past both with dado (The Ruse of Medusa at Facility) and Esteban Andres Cruz (Esteban’s Christmas Play at Mary’s Attic). Cerda is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from Joseph Jefferson Committee and was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 2016 for his artistic and philanthropic efforts in Chicago. He’s currently working on Scary Town, an adult children’s play as part of the Handbag 2025 season.
FACT SHEET:
SIX MEN DRESSED LIKE JOSEPH STALIN
Title: SIX MEN DRESSED LIKE JOSEPH STALIN
Written By: Dianne Nora
Directed By: dado*
Cast: Esteban Andres Cruz* (Soso), David Cerda (Koba)
* denotes A Red Orchid Theatre Ensemble Member
Dates: May 18 - June 22, 2025
Previews: May 8 - 16, 2025
Press Opening: Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 3 and 7 p.m.
Schedule: Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m.; Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m.
Location: A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St.
Tickets: $35-$50 regular run. Student, senior, and group discounts available.
Box Office: (312) 943-8722 or online at www.aredorchidtheatre.org
Sponsors: Production Sponsors: Heidi Graham, Andrea Mitchel, and Barbara & Randy Thomas. Developmental Sponsor: Kate Gray.
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Images available at the Media Center at this link
ABOUT A RED ORCHID THEATRE
A Red Orchid Theatre has served as an artistic focal point in the heart of the Old Town community of Chicago since 1993 and was honored with a 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Over the past 31 years, its Resident Ensemble has welcomed into its fold an impressive array of award-winning actors, playwrights and theatre artists with the firm belief that live theatre is the greatest sustenance for the human spirit. A Red Orchid is well known and highly acclaimed for its fearless approach to performance and design in the service of unflinchingly intimate stories.
A Red Orchid Theatre is: Karen Aldridge, Lance Baker, Kamal Angelo Bolden, Esteban Andres Cruz, Dado, Mike Durst, Sherman Edwards, Myron Elliott, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Levi Holloway, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, John Judd, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Travis A. Knight, Danny McCarthy, Shade Murray, Brett Neveu, Sadieh Rifai, Grant Sabin, Steve Schine, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers and Natalie West.
Sponsor Information
A Red Orchid Theatre remains grateful for the support of our board, donors, and loyal audience who continue to champion our ambitious and powerful storytelling. These sponsors help to create a platform for our talented Ensemble to reach new audiences, and ensure that we remain a source for honest, compassionate, and aesthetically rigorous theatre-making.
A Red Orchid Theatre’s 32nd Season is sponsored by Kamehachi, Picnic Wine & Provisions, and Roost Roastery. The Production Sponsors for Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin are Heidi Graham, Andrea Mitchel, and Barbara & Randy Thomas. Developmental Sponsor: Kate Gray.
Interested in sponsoring a production? By partnering with us as a sponsor, you will help to take our work to the next level of artistic excellence, while also receiving deeper access to our artists and the creative process. To learn more, please contact Development Director Stephanie Shum at stephanie@aredorchidtheatre.org or 312-943-8722.
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