That almost kind of rhymes! Olympic gold medalist Alexei Yagudin is making his stage debut playing Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (or a Putin-esque character) in the play "President on Vacation," according to RussiaToday:
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.
Let's just hope the play is not too biting. Putin has a history of making opponents and even satirists disappear...literally, according to a recent New York Times article.