Ben Donaldson and Alex Schmidt play scientists who embalm the late Russian leader in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Alex Schmidt and Ben Donaldson in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Jeremiah Clayton as Lenin in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Preston Parker in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Andres Ornelas, Robin Vogel, Ben Donaldson, and Preston Parker in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Nicholas Kvachkoff in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
The cast of the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Boston Cahoon in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Andres Ornelas, Robin Vogel, Alex Schmidt, and Preston Parker make a toast in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Nicholas Kvachkoff, Isabella de Assis-Wilson, and Ben Donaldson in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Nicholas Kvachkoff and Alex Schmidt in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Andres Ornelas, Alex Schmidt, Robin Vogel, and Preston Parker in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Alex Schmidt and Ben Donaldson play biochemists charged to preserve the corpse of Lenin in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Alex Schmidt in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Jeremiah Clayton and Robin Vogel in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Jeremiah Clayton and Robin Vogel in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Boston Cahoon, Sebastian Smelser, Jeremiah Clayton, and Isabella de Assis-Wilson move the corpse of Lenin in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Carson Wirtz is the stage manager for the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Isabella de Assis-Wilson and Boston Cahoon in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Ben Donaldson, Alex Schmidt, and Boston Cahoon in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Robin Vogel and Ben Donaldson in the lab in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Alex Schmidt, Robin Vogel, and Eamon Colglazier in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Isabella de Assis-Wilson in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Alex Schmidt gets help from Ben Donaldson in preparing the body in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Jeremiah Clayton, Boston Cahoon, and Isabella de Assis-Wilson in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Eamon Colglazier and Nicholas Kvachkoff in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Alex Schmidt and Ben Donaldson fight in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Alex Schmidt and Ben Donaldson argue about how the embalming might be done in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Robin Vogel plays three different "Nadia" characters in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Alex Schmidt and Robin Vogel in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Jeremiah Clayton and Eamon Colglazier in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Preston Parker and Eamon Colglazier in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Alex Schmidt gets ready to show Robin Vogel the results of the embalming process as Eamon Colglazier looks on.
Gabrien Smith designed the music and plays piano in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Preston Parker, Eamon Colglazier, and Sebastian Smelser in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Alex Schmidt and Ben Donaldson in the Wabash Theater Department's production of Lenin's Embalmers.
Two biochemists – Boris Zbarsky and Vladimir Vorobiev – are pushed to their limits when asked by Joseph Stalin to preserve former Russian leader Vladimir Lenin’s body for all time.
This doesn’t sound like the stuff of a comedic play, but it is and the Wabash Theater will stage Lenin’s Embalmers in a four-night run, Feb. 25-28, at 7:30 p.m. in Ball Theater.
This is a very dark comedy but generally suitable for all audiences. The play is based on the true story of Boris and Vlad, who in 1924 face certain death in the gulag if they don’t fulfil Stalin’s wishes. Yet if they pull off the embalming to Stalin’s standard, they could be rich beyond their wildest dreams.
The play, written by Vern Thiessen and based on a book written by Boris Zbarsky’s son, Ilya, borrows a bit from Thiessen’s own experiences – his grandfather was sent to the gulag in the 1930s. Stalin’s idea of embalming Lenin was symbolic and meant to convince the Russian people that Stalin’s government was legit and Lenin was in line for sainthood.
Fun fact: Lenin’s embalmers are still at it today – over 100 years later – regularly bathing the body in fluids to keep him looking fresh. Fans can see him by appointment in Moscow’s Red Square.
“I have wanted to direct this play since I read a New York Times review of its Broadway run in 2010,” said the play’s director, Heidi Winters Vogel. “I loved the dark humor, and it feels that now is the right time to stage it. The play addresses issues that are being debated in the United States right now: government control of the media, politically motivated prosecutions, antisemitism, and the dangers of populism.
“Besides, it is hilarious,” she said.
Wabash stage veteran Alex Schmidt ’27 stars as Boris with freshman Benjamin Donaldson playing his embalming sidekick, Vlad. Senior Jeremiah Clayton plays dead Vladimir Lenin, while sophomore Eamon Colglazier plays the very alive Joseph Stalin.
Other members of the cast include Robin Vogel playing several different Nadia characters
and freshman Nicholas Kvachkoff as Kraisin, who is Stalin’s gopher.
There’s lots of humor here, especially when Lenin returns from the dead to tell a joke or two. But the whole idea of keeping Lenin looking “alive” for the people is deadly serious, especially the enormous pressure placed on Zbarsky and Vorobiev.
Senior Preston Parker, freshmen Boston Cahoon, Andres Ornelas, and Sebastian Smelser, and Isabella de Assis-Wilson are members of the ensemble cast.
Keeping the whole riotous show on schedule is senior stage manager Carson Wirtz with assistance from sophomore RJ Sturgill. Junior Gabrien Smith designed the music and sound, while junior Xavier Cienfuegos is the properties manager.
“Lenin’s Embalmers is a thoughtful, scathing comedy that, dark as it is, had the audience on opening night laughing from start to finish, even as the more serious aspects of it seeped into our brains to reflect on after the curtain fell,” wrote Rebecca Alvin in a review of a 2019 production in Provincetown.