Writer & Director

Founder of Krymov Lab NYC, is a renowned theatre director, set designer, painter, and educator. He was a major figure in Russian theatre, directing acclaimed productions at the country’s leading companies and earning multiple honors, including five Golden Mask Awards, four Crystal Turandot Awards, the Stanislavsky Award, the Grand Prix at the Prague Quadrennial, and the Herald Angels Award at the Edinburgh International Festival.

He began his career designing over 90 productions in collaboration with many of Russia’s most esteemed directors. In the 1990s, Krymov turned to painting, with solo exhibitions in Russia and abroad—including the State Russian Museum, the Manege Exhibition Hall, and the Musée Historique de la Citadelle Vauban (France) —and represented the Pushkin Museum at the Venice Biennale. His works are held in major collections worldwide, including the Tretyakov Gallery, the Victoria and Albert, the Vatican, the National Institute of Health, and the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

Until 2022, when he left Russia in protest of the war in Ukraine, Krymov taught at the Russian University of Theatre Arts (GITIS), where he led the Set Design workshop and founded the theatre company Krymov Laboratory in Moscow. The Lab’s original productions, developed with his students and professional actors, toured extensively to wide acclaim, including festivals in Poland, Hungary, the UK, Estonia, Finland, New Zealand, the US, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, and many other countries.

Author of books Course: Conversations With Students and New Course: Conversations With Yourself.

Producer, Interpreter and Casting Director

The Executive Producer of Krymov Lab NYC, Tatyana Khaikin is an interpreter, translator, teacher, and producer with over 30 years’ experience. Recent projects includes: Krymov Lab NYC’s inaugural production of The Big Trip at La MaMa (executive producer, casting, interpreter), Krymov’s staging of The Cherry Orchard at the Wilma Theater (interpreter, language consultant), and Krymov Lab’s Metamorphoses (executive producer, interpreter, casting). Since the early 1990s, Tatyana has been actively involved in many educational and theatrical projects between the US and Russia, at institutions including the Raikin School, the Moscow Art Theater School, the A.R.T./MXAT Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University, Yale University, the New School for Social Research, Wayne State, Northern Illinois University, and Hunter College. Throughout her career, Tatyana has worked with acclaimed directors including Oleg Efremov, Roman Kozak, Konstantin Raikin, Adolf Shapiro, Marina Brusnikina, Alla Sigalova, Janosz Szasz, John Tiffany, and Steven Hoggett. Her theatrical translations include The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, Out of the Blue by Vladimir Zaytsev, and three one-acts by American playwrights for the Book Wings International Writing Program at the University of Iowa (co-sponsored by the American Embassy in Moscow).

Production Design

Emona Stoykova is a scenic designer for theater, film, and live performance, with a special interest in new plays and adaptations. Her work is focused on empathy, collaboration, and seeking experimental and non-traditional approaches to storytelling.

In Europe, she has collaborated with such renowned directors as Robert Wilson, Alexander Morfov, among others. She is the Production Designer of Krymov Lab NYC, where she previously designed Metamorphoses, Big Trip, Onegin, In Our Own Words, Americans: 2 Hems & 1/8 Eugene O’Neill, and Metamorphoses (La MaMa). Other recent American credits include: Salome (Heartbeat Opera), An Enemy Of The People (Yale Repertory Theatre) [Outstanding Set Design Nomination]; We are P.R. (Behmer Theatre); The Gold Room (HERE); She Talks to Beethoven, A Number, Girlfriend, and The Seventeenth Chapel (A.R.T/NY Theatres); Coop (Paradise Factory); Ella in the Tundra (The Signature Theatre).

Emona holds an MFA in Set Design from the Yale School of Drama, a BA in Scenography from the National Academy of Arts, Bulgaria, and is a graduate of the National School of Fine Arts, Bulgaria. She is a recipient of the Oenslager Fellowship Award in Design, was a featured artist at the Prague Quadrennial in 2019, and USITT 2019, and has had her work exhibited at the PQ (2011, 2015).

Dramaturg

Shari Perkins is a freelance dramaturg and editor based in NYC and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Shari is the company dramaturg for Krymov Lab NYC, having worked on Love Stories, Eugene Onegin, and Metamorphoses. She was dramaturg for New American Ensemble’s The Brothers Karamazov and Ivanov. Other recent projects include Argia Coppola’s Cursed, a new jazz play about Marilyn Monroe based on the novel Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates; The Marriage at LaMaMa; and King Lear and The Barista directed by Arseniy Fariatiev at Columbia University.

Puppet Design

LEAH OGAWA is an installation artist and puppeteer based in New York City. Raised in Yamanashi, Japan, Leah studied Bunraku puppetry, Kuruma Ningyo, and Butoh art forms.  She has worked with artists, theaters, and companies including The Metropolitan Opera, La MaMa, Dmitry Krymov, Phantom Limb, Dan Hurlin, Tomf Lee, Nami Yamamoto, Loco 7, and others on projects including the critically acclaimed “El Nino” and “Big Trip.”  In addition to The Metropolitan Opera, Leah has performed at Quai Branley in Paris, and across Asia. Leah is a recipient of the Jim Henson Foundation’s workshop grant and held residencies at Five Myles Gallery and Kino Saito Art Center. Her recent work, Divine Generations, with co-creator John Tsung, has been featured in the New York Times.

Production Stage Manager

PATRICK DUNNING is an actor, stage manager, and sound designer based in Brooklyn. He has performed at La MaMa, BAM, BRIC, The Tank, and more. He'll be performing at La MaMa's Downstairs theater this Spring, in Talking Band’s new production A Door Slams, A Glass Trembles. Patrick holds a degree in Drama from Vassar College, and has studied acting in New York at the Atlantic Acting School and abroad at the Moscow Art Theatre School and Konstantin Raikin School of Performing Arts.

Costume Design

Luna Gomberg is a versatile artist and designer, specializing in immersive performance art, wearable sculptures, and unexpected and colorful costuming decisions.

Luna has worked with theater companies, outdoor performance venues, and collaborators, including Krymov Lab NYC in their critically acclaimed runs of Big Trip and Funeral at LaMaMa ETC in the East Village, Pinocchio the Musical at the Emerson Colonial Theater in Boston, several performance groups at TurnPark Art Space in the Berkshires, and multiple theater companies in New York City.

Luna works at the intersection of performance and studio art, an underfunded gray area, but not the area to be overlooked in the turbulent times we as a society currently find ourselves in. Luna’s artistic mission is to use her cultural heritage to attempt to build peace and understanding together with people and artists of other cultures, and to exchange generational knowledge with them. She believes peace can only be found in conversation and interaction, and while her art may look whimsical and lighthearted, it is made with intention and love, in hope for a better future.

Lighting Design

Krista Smith is a Lighting Designer and Interdisciplinary Artist with an enthusiasm for new work, adaptations, and all forms of storytelling interwoven with music. Previous designs with Krymov Lab NYC: Metamorphoses, Big Trip: Onegin In Our Own Words and The Americans: 2 Hems & 1/8 Eugene O’Neill. Her design work has been seen across the United States, and internationally in the UK & Western Australia. Frequent associate to Jennifer Tipton, including her Lighting Design Master Class of Swan Lake in partnership with The Asian Arts Council and Ballet Philippines in Manila. Recent projects include: Pig Iron’s Poor Judge (Wilma Theater), Choreographer Emily Coates’s Tell Me Where It Comes From (The Guggenheim), and Ni Mi Madre (Best of Edinburgh Fringe Winner 2024). Originally from California, Krista is the recipient of Theatre Bay Area’s 2011 Eric Landisman Fellowship. Professional training includes a B.A. in Theater Arts from San Francisco State University and M.F.A. in Design from Yale School of Drama.

Sound Design

Denis started his DJ career at 15 created music, performed and toured around Russia. He got a degree in sound engineering and became a manager of a studio in Moscow. He was an official DJ at the Paralympic Games in Sochi and founded his own record company. He also a sound producer and founder of two music bands. In 2017 and 2018, he started a multimedia musical project of the multimedia musical project EPPOS being a sound producer and an animated musical series PG13 where Denis is a general producer.

For 15 years, Denis worked at the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theatre, designing sound for over 100 productions.

Projection Designer

Yana Biryukova is a video artist and theatre designer based in New York City. Selected designs include Cosi Fan Tutte (Detroit Opera), Simona’s Search (Hartford Stage), Imogen Says Nothing (Yale Repertory Theatre), Andy Warhol in Iran (Barrington Stage Company), Yeah Baby (Resident Ensemble Players), Elian (Miami New Drama), Prelude to a Kiss (Milwaukee Rep), Mlima’s Tale (Westport Country Playhouse), Transport (Irish Repertory Theatre) and many more. Associate credits include Harry Potter and The Cursed Child ; Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (Broadway). In addition to theatre design Yana edits and designs films and installations, including Palimpsest presented at the Venice Biennale, Alphabet City (Yale Art Gallery), Not Just Me (Catskill Art Society) among others. Yana has lectured and taught workshops on projection design at Harvard, Yale and Colgate universities. Member of USA 829. MFA: Yale School of Drama.

Technical Director/Special Effects

Calan Britz graduated from SUNY Fredonia with a BFA in Theatrical Production and Design in 2023 and has been expanding his experience in the NYC area including his second season here with Krymov Lab NYC. Some recent credits include Technical Director for Brian Sanders’ JUNK, Weehawken HS, and St Johns University, Carpenter for The Factory NYC, and Hudson Scenic. He wants to thank the Director and Krymov Team for giving him this amazing opportunity to create beautiful art.

Production Manager