HE'S sailed on a submarine, flown in a fighter jet and has a black belt in judo. Now add theatre critic to Vladimir Putin's public persona.
The outgoing Russian president and his wife, Lyudmila, paid a surprise visit to a Moscow theatre on Sunday to see a production of the 19th-century comedy Woe from Wit.
State-run television said the president and the first lady caught the audience
and the cast by surprise – and they won a standing ovation before the curtain rose.
Afterward, Mr Putin chatted with the lead actors over tea. He gave them pointers about their staging of the popular play, which satirises Moscow society after the Napoleonic wars.
"Why did you at the very beginning show (the main character] crying? One gets the impression of him as a weak person. He's a strong man. He withstands everything that's there. You showed him snivelling," he asked the cast.
"You're correct and I'm just glad that the actor has heard this," the play's director, Rimas Tuminas, responded.
Mr Putin corrected him, saying: "The actor has nothing to do with this. He's done what you told him."
The Russian leader then said the play still has relevance 150 years after it was written.
He pointed to a scene when the lead character criticises fellow Russians who fall over themselves to adopt western customs.
"This is a particular lesson for the new members of the European Union," Mr Putin said to laughter, adding: "I'm joking, I'm joking."
Critical comments notwithstanding, the TV report was quick to add after his commentary: "His review was neither good nor bad, but was just very interesting for Putin, because the production evoked many emotions for him."
The full article contains 291 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
