Red Poppy

Mention thename Josef Stalin and all you will hear are epithets like &quote;brutal dictator&quote; or&quote;mass murderer&quote; or &quote;Communist reactionary.&quote; And these are not untruedescriptions. But they don't tell the whole story. Every terrible person inhistory was also just an ordinary person too. In The Red Poppy, we behold the man and not the monster. In theseseven scenes, we see the human side of the Soviet leader in a myriad of waysnever before portrayed. We see his humanity, his personal philosophy, hisanger, his sense of guilt and his endearing playfulness, all against thebackdrop of Mao tse-Tung's impending visit to Moscow in 1949. The playwrighthas done a masterful job of transforming Yuri Krotkov's intimate knowledge ofStalin into a fascinating, poignant, and at times hilarious collection ofvignettes that is as entertaining to read as it is to watch it on stage. The Red Poppy is truly a revelation.