Running Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes including one 10 minute intermission.
Vladimir
World Premiere
written by Erika Sheffer
directed by Daniel Sullivan
OFF-BROADWAY AT
New York City Center Stage I
2024-2025 Season
This haunting world premiere unfolds in Moscow, where an independent journalist covering Putin’s first term struggles to maintain sanity and hope in increasingly hostile circumstances. She finds herself on the brink of an explosive story — but as danger mounts for her and her sources, she questions whether her bravery will make any difference at all. Written by Erika Sheffer, Vladimir is about standing up to immorality no matter the cost, when you know your nation is headed for disaster. Directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan.
Vladimir is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.
General Info / Accessibility
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Click here for a seating chart. Stage I seats 300. All seats are on Orchestra level—all seating accessible by elevator. Stage I is accessible to people with disabilities and is equipped with both assistive listening and hearing-aid compatible devices. For more information on accessibility, please click here.
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Cast
Norbert Leo Butz
Kostya
A two-time Tony Award winner for Best Actor in a Musical and is one of only nine actors ever to have won the award twice as lead actor. He first won for his work in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and won again for his work in Catch Me If You Can. He was additionally nominated for Tonys for his work in Thou Shalt Not and My Fair Lady. The star of 11 Broadway shows, he is also a five-time Drama Desk nominee and two-time winner, amongst other stage accolades. On television, Butz most recently starred on FX’s “Justified” reboot and has previously starred on Hulu’s “The Girl from Plainville,” David Zabel and Ridley Scott’s “Mercy Street” on PBS, “Bloodline” on Netflix, as Paddy Chayefsky in “Fosse/Verdon” for F/X, and “Debris” for NBC. He will next be seen on Ryan Murphy’s “American Sports Story.” Films include the recent Exorcist: Believer for Universal; Sean Penn’s Flag Day; Peter Hedges’ Dan in Real Life; Sony’s Higher Ground opposite and directed by Vera Farmiga; Craig Zisk’s The English Teacher; Better Living Through Chemistry opposite Sam Rockwell; 2020 Sundance pic Luce, directed by Julius Onah; and the recent indie comedy, Give or Take. He will next be seen in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown for Searchlight. He received a BFA and Honorary Doctorate from Webster University and an MFA from Alabama Shakespeare Theatre
Erin Darke
Chovka & Others
Erin Darke is known for her series regular role as Cindy Reston in the critically acclaimed Amazon series “Good Girl Revolt” opposite Anna Camp and Genevieve Angelson. Most recently she was seen as one of the female leads in Sheri Elwood’s series “Moonshine” opposite Jennifer Finnigan. She can also be seen on season 3 of “Miracle Workers” opposite Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Bucsemi. Erin is known for her lead role in AMC’s “Dietland” opposite Juliana Margulies and Joy Nash. Erin was also previously cast in Theresa Rebeck’s “It’s a Man’s World” as the female lead. She was also seen in Amazon’s award-winning series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” On the feature side, she is known for her work on Summer ’03 with Joey King and Andrea Savage, Kill Your Darlings opposite Daniel Radcliffe, Love & Mercy opposite Paul Dano, Don’t Think Twice, and Thank You for Your Service.
Francesca Faridany
Raya
Broadway: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Macbeth, Man and Boy, The 39 Steps, The Homecoming. London/Stratford: The Empress (RSC). Off-Broadway: The Miser (MIP), The Half-life of Marie Curie, This Day Forward, The NY Idea, Orlando, The Stronger. Regional highlights: Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Carmel Bach Festival), Helen Hayes Best Actress Award for Strange Interlude (Shakespeare Theatre, DC), Julia in Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance (McCarter), title role in her own adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s Fräulein Else (Sundance Theater Lab, Berkeley Rep., La Jolla, Long Wharf, McCarter Theaters), Narrator in the Sitwell/Walton Façade (Caramoor Music Festival), Cassandra in Agamemnon (Getty Villa), As You Like It (Shakespeare Theatre), and many productions with director Stephen Wadsworth, including As You Like It, The Oresteia, Don Juan, Design for Living, An Ideal Husband, Changes of Heart, The Game of Love and Chance. Film: She Came To Me, False Positive, Black Panther, Love After Love, The Audition, Closing Night, Conceiving Ada. TV: “Girls on the Bus,” “The Blacklist,” “Hunters,” “Bull,” “Manifest,” “FBI,” “Homeland,” “Law & Order,” “True Crime: The Menendez Murders,” “Falling Water,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “E.R.,” “Deadline.” Training: The Drama Centre, London.
Erik Jensen
Andrei & Others
Erik Jensen is an actor, writer, and director. TV acting credits include ABC’s “For Life” and over 100 other film/TV shows including his role as NY Yankee Thurman Munson in “The Bronx is Burning” opposite John Turturro. Theater: The Collaboration (Broadway, MTC) Disgraced (Lincoln Center), The Good Negro (Public Theater), Corpus Christi and Y2K (MTC), and as Lester Bangs in the critically acclaimed How To Be A Rock Critic (CTG, Steppenwolf, The Public), which he wrote with wife Jessica Blank. With Jess, Erik also wrote The Exonerated (Outer Critics Circle, Lortel, Drama Desk Awards), Aftermath (NYTW, two Drama League nominations), The Line (The Public) and Coal Country (The Public, Cherry Lane/Audible, Lortel nomination for Outstanding Play, two Drama Desk nominations) with music by Steve Earle. The duo has written TV for Fox, 20th TV, Gaumont, Levinson/Fontana, David Simon/Blown Deadline and Ed Burns. Their first feature as writer/directors, Almost Home, was released by Vertical. Their second, Brooklyn, Minnesota (starring Amy Madigan) will have its major festival premiere this fall.
Olivia Deren Nikkanen
Galina & Others
Olivia Deren Nikkanen is thrilled to be back with MTC. A born and raised New Yorker, she is most known for her role as Gwen in Netflix’s hit show, “The Society,” as well as Young Alex on The CW’s “Supergirl.” She was last with MTC in the Broadway company of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes. Her most recent short, Tea, was an official selection in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. She can next be seen in Max’s upcoming movie, Sweethearts, slated for later this year.
David Rosenberg
Yevgeny
David Rosenberg is an actor and playwright. Broadway: Death of a Salesman. Regional: Williamstown, Chautauqua, GableStage. TV: “The Good Fight”, Law & Order: SVU” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”. Film credits include The Toast and It’s a Dog, which he also wrote. His plays include What Else Is True, which premiered at ART/NY, produced by Egg & Spoon Theatre Collective, and Wicked Child, which premiered at Zoetic Stage and will be published by Dramatists Play Service. His post-Soviet musical extravaganza Absolutely! had its concert premiere at Caveat. BFA: NYU. MFA: Juilliard.
Jonathan Walker
Jim & Others
Jonathan Walker’s Broadway credits include The Assembled Parties (MTC, Dir. Lynne Meadow), Twentieth Century (Dir. Walter Bobbie), After the Fall (Dir. Michael Mayer), Rocky (Dir. Alex Timbers). Numerous Off-Broadway credits include world premieres of plays by Richard Greenberg, Donald Margulies, Lorena Gale, Doug Wright, Wendy McCloud, James Lapine, Thulani Davis, Martin Sherman, Peter Parnell, and Charles Busch. Theaters include MCC, The Public Theater, Shakespeare in the Park, Playwrights Horizons, Primary Stages, Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Cherry Lane, Soho Playhouse, The New Group. Regional theaters include The Guthrie, Berkeley Repertory, Yale Repertory, Dorset Playhouse, Westport Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, The Sharon Playhouse, Geva Theater. TV credits include “Bull,” “The Blacklist,” “The Endgame,” “Bluebloods,” “Madam Secretary,” “Quantico,” “Daredevil” (recurring), “Person of Interest,” “Elementary,” “The Good Wife,” “Zero Hour” (recurring), “The Carrie Diaries” (recurring), “The Big C,” “Sex and the City,” “Chapelle’s Show,” lots of “Law And Order” and the upcoming Ryan Murphy mini-series, “Gladiator.” Films include The Chaperone, Bridge of Spies, It Had to be You, Man on a Ledge, Michael Clayton, People I Know, Heights, Far From Heaven.
Norbert Leo Butz
Kostya
Erin Darke
Chovka & Others
Francesca Faridany
Raya
Erik Jensen
Andrei & Others
Olivia Deren Nikkanen
Galina & Others
David Rosenberg
Yevgeny
Jonathan Walker
Jim & Others
Sadie Lynn Dickerson
Understudy for Ms. Darke/Ms. Nikkanen
Sadie Dickerson is thrilled to be making her New York debut. A proud native of Austin, Texas, she graduated this spring from Missouri State with a BFA in Musical Theatre. Her regional credits include Crazy for You and Xanadu (Tent Theatre).
Instagram: @sadie.dickerson; sadielynndickerson.com
Victoria Frings
Understudy for Ms. Faridany
Victoria Frings is thrilled to be back at The Club! Broadway: An Enemy of the People. Off-Broadway: Tales From Red Vienna (MTC), Martin Luther on Trial. Regional highlights: Constellations (Old Globe), Emery Battis Award for School for Lies (Shakespeare Theatre, DC), Richard in Richard III (Allentown Shakespeare), Well Intentioned White People (Barrington Stage), Pride and Prejudice (Baltimore Center Stage), Leaving (Wilma Theater). Film: Sleeping with Other People, The Club, After Ever After. Up next: the title role in the world premiere production of Madame Clicquot: A Revolutionary Musical at Pittsburgh CLO.
Training: Public Theater Shakespeare Lab. BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.
Tobias Segal
Understudy for Mr. Rosenberg
Tobias Segal is happy to be returning to MTC having previously appeared in From Up Here for which he received both a Drama Desk and Drama League nomination. His stage credits include The Miracle Worker on Broadway, Doris to Darlene (Playwrights Horizons), Bluebird (Atlantic), The Bad Guys (2nd Stage) and Sam Mendes’ The Bridge Project, an international co production between BAM and The Old Vic. He most recently appeared on television in the third season of Atlanta, his other television credits include recurring roles on Sneaky Pete (Amazon), For Life (ABC), Happyish (Showtime), and The Good Wife (CBS). His Film credits include John Wick Chapters 2 and 3, The Drop, Colewell, and most recently Brave The Dark.
J Anthony Crane
Understudy for Mr. Butz/Mr.Jensen/Mr. Walker
Broadway: Between Riverside and Crazy, Sight Unseen, Butley, The Country House, The Winslow Boy. Tours, Regional includes: Cyrano in Cyrano (TheatreWorks, BATCC Nom.); Watch on the Rhine (Arena, Helen Hayes Nom.); The Lion King (First National), Les Miserables (N.America), Spamalot (Wynn). Has hit the stage at Goodspeed Opera House, Goodman, Berkeley Repertory, Seattle Repertory, Mark Taper, Barrington Stage, The Old Globe, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Playhouse, Paper Mill, & many more. TV/Film includes: Series Regular on “Outer Banks” (Netflix), “Succession” (HBO), “Dead Ringers” (Amazon), “Billions”, “Chicago PD”, “Blue Bloods”, “FBI”, “Madam Secretary”, “The Big Easy.” B.S. from NU. For Susan Ellen. IG: @janthonycrane
Sadie Lynn Dickerson
Understudy for Ms. Darke/Ms. Nikkanen
Victoria Frings
Understudy for Ms. Faridany
Tobias Segal
Understudy for Mr. Rosenberg
J Anthony Crane
Understudy for Mr. Butz/Mr.Jensen/Mr. Walker
Creative
Erika Sheffer
Playwright
Erika Sheffer: Erika’s plays include Russian Transport (The New Group, Steppenwolf, subsequent regional and international productions), The Fundamentals (Steppenwolf commission and world premiere) and Vladimir. Honors include the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, TCG’s Edgerton Grant, and an Outer Critic’s Circle nomination. Her plays have been developed by MTC, South Coast Rep, The Geffen, The New Group, Steppenwolf, Ars Nova, SPACE on Ryder Farm and The Atlantic. She has held commissions from Steppenwolf, The Geffen Theater and Manhattan Theatre Club. Television and Film credits include Apple TV’s “Little America”, an upcoming feature co-written with Siân Heder, as well as an original series in development with Gaumont. She is published by Dramatist Play Service and received her BFA from Syracuse University.
Daniel Sullivan
Director
DANIEL SULLIVAN (Director) Manhattan Theatre Club credits include Summer 1976, The Nap, Saint Joan, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes, The Country House, The Snow Geese, The Columnist, Lost Lake, Accent on Youth, Good People, Time Stands Still, Rabbit Hole, After the Night and the Music, Brooklyn Boy, Sight Unseen, Psycopathia Sexualis, and Proof. Among other Broadway credits are Stories By Heart, Orphans, Glengarry Glen Ross , The Homecoming, Prelude to a Kiss, Julius Caesar, I’m Not Rappaport, Morning’s at Seven, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Ah, Wilderness!, The Sisters Rosensweig, Conversations with my Father, and The Heidi Chronicles. For the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park he has directed Coriolanus, Troilus and Cressida, Cymbeline, King Lear, Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, All’s Well That Ends Well, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Among his Off-Broadway credits are If I Forget, The Night Watcher, Intimate Apparel, Far East, Spinning into Butter, Stuff Happens, Dinner with Friends, and The Substance of Fire. From 1981 to 1997, he served as artistic director of Seattle Repertory Theatre. Sullivan served as Swanlund Professor in the College of Fine Arts at the University of Illinois, Urbana for 25 years.
Mark Wendland
Scenic Design
Broadway: Rose Tattoo, Six Degrees of Separation, Significant Other, Heisenberg, If/ Then, Merchant of Venice (Tony Nomination), Next to Normal (Tony Nomination), Talk Radio, An Almost Holy Picture, Death of a Salesman. New York: The Gardens of Anuncia, (Lincoln Center), Murder Ballad (MTC), The Mother, (Atlantic), Unknown Soldier (Playwright’s Horizons), Moscow Moscow Moscow…, Yen, Punk Rock (MCC), I Can Get it For You Wholesale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III, Hamlet (CSC), The Layover, (Second Stage), The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide…, Satellites, Fucking A, Pericles, A Dybbuk, The Winter’s Tale, Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, Cymbeline, Timon of Athens, (Public Theatre), Angels in America (Signature). Faculty: Interim Head of Design and Production, (Fordham University Theater Program).
Jess Goldstein
Costume Design
New York credits began with the 1978 landmark off-Broadway production of Buried Child and include Jersey Boys, Henry IV with Kevin Kline, Disney’s Newsies, On the Town, Take Me Out, Love! Valour! Compassion! and Daniel Sullivan’s productions of Proof, The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino, The Homecoming and Julius Caesar with Denzel Washington, as well as a 2005 Tony Award for LCT’s The Rivals. Proud recipient of TDF’s 2015 Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award.
Japhy Weideman
Lighting Design
MTC: Summer 1976, Airline Highway, The Snow Geese. 20 shows on Broadway and Five Tony Nominations for lighting Design. Off-Broadway: Lincoln Center Theatre, The Public-NYSF, NYTW, Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons, MCC, LAByrinth, The Vineyard, Ma-Yi, and others. West End: Dear Evan Hansen (Noel Coward), A Nice Fish (Harold Pinter Theatre), and Blackbird (Albery Theatre). Other: Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville (US national tour) and Hasan Minhaj’s The King’s Jester (Radio City and National Tour). Recent: Maggie (Goodspeed), and The Righteous (Santa Fe Opera).
Dan Moses Schreier
Original Music and Sound Design
Scores composed for productions directed by Daniel Sullivan: Coriolanus (2019), Troilus and Cressida (2016), King Lear (2015), The Snow Geese (2013), The Merchant of Venice (2011), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2007), Julius Caesar (2005), Major Barbara (2001), Spinning Into Butter (2000), Cymbeline (1999) Far East (1998). Awards: five Tony Award nominations, five Drama Desk Awards, Lucille Lortel Award, Obie Award for Sustained Excellence. Fellow of MacDowell.
Lucy Mackinnon
Projection Design
Lucy Mackinnon is a projection designer and video artist who lives in Brooklyn. Broadway design credits include The Notebook, Kimberly Akimbo, A Christmas Carol, How I Learned to Drive, Jagged Little Pill, The Rose Tattoo, Lifespan of a Fact, Six Degrees of Separation, and Deaf West’s revival of Spring Awakening. Recent off-Broadway credits include Watchnight (PAC NYC), The Bedwetter (Atlantic Theater Company), and Unknown Soldier (Playwrights Horizons).
Thomas Schall
Fight Direction
Broadway: over 100 shows. Enemy Of The People, Cabaret, Purlie Victorious, The Cost of Living, Company, A Soldier’s Play (Drama Desk award, fight choreography), War Horse, Romeo and Juliet. Public Theater: Othello, Hamlet, King Lear, Titus Andronicus. NYTF: Red Speedo, Othello, (Drama Desk nomination). Met Opera: Le Nozze de Figaro, Il Trovatore, Tosca.
Charles G. LaPointe
Hair and Wig Design
Award winning Designer who maintains a highly successful career on stages throughout the US and abroad. Numerous Broadway; Touring; Regional; International productions including: Hamilton (Make-Up Artists/ Hair Stylist Guild Award); MJ; Tommy; SIX; SUFFS; Beetlejuice; The Cher Show (Drama Desk Award); SpongeBob SquarePants (Drama Desk Award). Television: Emmy Nominations “The Wiz Live!” and “Jesus Christ Superstar Live!”
Ashley Ryan
Makeup Design
Broadway: The Great Gatsby; An American in Paris; The Elephant Man; The Bridges of Madison County; A Time to Kill; Picnic; Dead Accounts; Annie; The Heiress; On a Clear Day…; Bonnie and Clyde; Godspell; Born Yesterday; How to Succeed in Business…; Promises, Promises. Television: Blue Bloods
Charlotte Fleck
Dialect Coach
Selected: MTC: Good People, Ruined, Defiance, The Columnist. Broadway: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Rose Tattoo, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Ah Wilderness. Other Theatre: Signature Theatre, The Public, Goodman, MCC, Soho Rep, Women’s Project. TV/film: “Irma Vep,” Mildred Pierce, Julie and Julia, An Education, Shame, The Closer, O Brother Where Art Thou, Requiem for a Dream.
Erika Sheffer
Playwright
Daniel Sullivan
Director
Mark Wendland
Scenic Design
Jess Goldstein
Costume Design
Japhy Weideman
Lighting Design
Dan Moses Schreier
Original Music and Sound Design
Lucy Mackinnon
Projection Design
Thomas Schall
Fight Direction
Charles G. LaPointe
Hair and Wig Design
Ashley Ryan
Makeup Design
Charlotte Fleck
Dialect Coach