Meet Arielle Zaytsev, the Director Behind 'Ras(Putin)' a Gay Reimagining of Russian History
As a way to explore cults of personality in Russian history and culture, playwright and actor Arielle Zaytsev's imaginative and funny new play Ras(Putin) imagines Grigori Rasputin and Vladimir Putin as lovers.
“As a queer Jewish Slavic-American, the state of the world with the war in Ukraine and the current attitude and politics around queer people both in Russia and in the U.S. inspired me to try to understand the situation through a creative lens,” Zaytsev said in an interview with JWA. “I couldn't get the thought of, ‘Maybe Putin hates gay people so much because he's got some repressed internalized homophobia,’ out of my head.”
Ras(Putin), which premieres on January 12, 2026, at the New York Theater Festival and runs for three performances (1/12, 1/14, and 1/17), offers a darkly comedic, gay reimagining of Russian history. After experiencing many attempted murders, the seemingly unkillable Rasputin survives and enters a surreal, queer relationship with a young Vladimir Putin.
Incorporating mysticism, camp, and a speculative narrative, the production examines ideas of power, identity, and desire. It was written and directed by Zaytsev and features performances from Jewish actors Josh Bloom, Eric Berger, and Carl Schack. It is assistant directed by Henri Brusasco.
“As an actor, I have always liked telling stories. My background is in devised theatre, so while not the typical playwriting process, I have always preferred having a hand in all parts of the creation process,” says Zaytsev. “I love working collaboratively and putting on different hats and working new parts of my creative brain.”
Zaytsev’s parents are Soviet immigrants, which contributed to her desire to write this play.
“My Jewish identity has always been more cultural than religious, and my experience of Judaism is different from American Jews because of my family's cultural background,” she said. “My mother often talks about the antisemitism she experienced growing up in the Soviet Union, so it was important for me to touch on that in this play. It mattered to me to show a window into what it was like to be Jewish in the USSR.”
On top of taking cues from Russian history and culture, from the fall of the Romanovs to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Zaytsev said she drew inspiration from playwrights like Paula Vogel and Branden Jacobs Jenkins.
“I love their use of history and present day, the magical realism of Brandon Jacob Jenkin's Comeuppance and Appropriate, and the beautiful staging of Vogel's Indecent,” Zaytsev said.
Additionally, working as an actor on Ensemble Studio Theatre’s 2025 Uncovered Scenes From Ukraine benefit inspired her to put pen to paper. “Participating in that benefit, experiencing all their works, and being surrounded by people who are directly affected and connected to the war in Ukraine was incredibly inspiring. It was the turning point that gave me the confidence to write Ras(Putin).”
In a political moment where self-seriousness is the dominant way writers respond to injustice onstage, Zaytsev’s refreshing, comedic take on the history of Russian powers-that-be constitutes an unmissable evening of theater, filled with the kind of laughter and learning that sticks with audiences for years after they see the play.
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