Dmitry Krymov

Known for his innovative, design-centric style, sometimes called “theatre of the artist,” theatre director, scenographer, and visual artist Dmitry Krymov is one of the most original directorial voices of his generation.

He is internationally beloved for his visually stunning, richly layered reinventions of classics, where he and his company combine fine art, prose, poetry, music, and popular culture in a mercurial tapestry of original, inventive, and surprising moments. In his productions, the design goes on a journey alongside the characters; often, the actors transform their environment, using props and scenery to construct new worlds right before the audience's eyes.

He has been hailed as “one of the world’s finest theatermakers” (New York Times), and has won many awards for his work including five Golden Mask awards (Russian National Theater Award), four Crystal Turandot awards (first post-Soviet Theater Award) and a Herald Angel Award (Edinburgh International Festival) 

Krymov was born in Moscow in 1954 to theatrical luminaries Anatoly Efros and Natalya Krymova. Trained in stage design from a young age, he graduated from the Moscow Art Theatre School’s scenography department in 1976. Over the next two decades, he designed over a hundred productions throughout Russia and abroad. In addition to regularly collaborating with his father, a legendary director, he worked with directors like V. Portnov, A. Tovstonogov, V. Sarkisov, M. Kiselov, Y. Arye, A. Shapiro, M. Rozovsky, and S. Arzibashev, and at institutions including the Malaya Bronnaya Theatre, the Taganka Theatre, the Moscow Art Theatre, the Central Children’s Theatre, the Stanislavsky Theatre, the Gogol Theatre, the Ermolova Theatre, the Mossoviet Theatre, and the Mayakovsky Theatre.

In the 1990s, Krymov left the theatre to focus on his fine arts practice, including painting, drawing, and installation. He took part in many group and solo exhibitions, both in Russia and abroad, and his paintings are included in the collections of The State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), The State Russian Museum and The State Theatre Museum (Saint-Petersburg), The Victoria and Albert Museum (London), The Vatican Museum; and in many private collections all over the world. 

In 2002, Krymov began teaching stage design at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS). His experiments with performance led to a new career as a director, and he launched the Dmitry Krymov Laboratory in 2004. Headquartered in Moscow, the Lab created over 20 productions including Demon. View from Above. (2006); Opus 7 (2008); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (As You Like It) (2012); and O-Y. Late Love (2014). The Lab was commissioned by institutions including the International Chekhov Theatre Festival and the Edinburgh Festival, presented work at prestigious festivals in Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Georgia, and Poland, and toured internationally to countries including  Brazil, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, and Estonia. Many of Krymov’s students became highly acclaimed artists in their own right, and continued to work alongside him in the Lab and beyond. In 2016, Krymov was invited to teach a master class at the Yale School of Drama (now the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University), and worked with the graduate students there to create his first English-language production, The Square Root of Three Sisters. As Krymov became one of Russia’s most renowned and award-winning contemporary theatre directors, his work grew in scale; some of his most-loved later Russian works include Mozart. Don Juan. Dress Rehearsal (2021); We Are All Here (2021); and Kostik (2022). 

In early 2022, Krymov travelled to Philadelphia to create a new production of The Cherry Orchard with the Wilma Theatre. When the Russian government invaded Ukraine, he publicly stated his opposition to the war, knowing it meant exile, and he and his wife Inna took up residence in New York City. In fall of 2022, he launched his new company, Krymov Lab NYC, with an Emergency Residency at La MaMa and two sold-out workshop productions: Onegin (In Our Own Words) and The Americans: 2 Hems & 1/8th O’Neill. The Lab will present full scale productions of these works on the historic Ellen Stewart Theater stage at La MaMa in the fall of 2023.

Awards/Nominations

2006 Stanislavsky Prize for Innovation – Sir Vantes. Donkey Hot | Raduga International Festival in St. Petersburg, Best Show and Special Critiics’ Prize – Sir Vantes. Donkey Hot | Crystal Turandot for Best Director – Demon. View from Above |  Golden Mask for Innovation/Best Production – Demon. View from Above | Nomination: Golden Mask for Innovation/Best Production – Not-Yet-Fairy-Tales

2007 Golden Triga at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space – “Our Chekhov” exhibition | Raduda International Festival, Certificate for “Incredible Creativity in Search of a New Theatricality” – Auction | Nominated: Golden Mask for Innovation/Best Production – Sir Vantes. Donkey Hot

2008 Nominations: Golden Mask for Best Director – Demon. View from Above | Golden Mask for Innovation/Best Production – Demon. View from Above; Optimus Mundus

2009 Crystal Turandot for Best Director – Opus No. 7 | Golden Mask for Innovation/Best Production and Best Costume Design (Vera Martynova and Maria Tregubova) – Opus No. 7 | Theatre-Goer’s Star Prize

2010 Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, “Person of the Year” | Golden Mask for Best Costume Design (Maria Tregubova) – Tararabumbiya | Nominated: Theatrical Star Award for “Other Universe” – Tararabumbiya

2012 Edinburgh International Festival, Bank of Scotland Herald Angel Award  – As You Like it, based on Shakespeare’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream.

2013 City of Moscow Prize in Literature and Art for "Theatrical Art” |  Moscow and Moscow Region Literature and Art Award for "Theatrical Art" –  Opus No. 7; Gorki-10;  As You Like it, based on Shakespeare’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream.

2014 Honorary Membership in the Russian Academy of Fine Arts.

2015 Prague Quadrennial, special award for "Best Shared Process" – “Do you want to speak bad English with us about art?” exhibition | Honorary International Member of the Jury for the 13th Prague Quadrennial |  Grand Jury Chair of the Kinoshok Festival

2016 Golden Mask for Drama/Best Small-Scale Production and Best Actress (Maria Smolnikova) – O-y. Late Love | Moskovskiy Komsomolets Theatre Prize for  Best Show for Children and Teenagers - In Their Own Words. A. Pushkin's 'Eugene Onegin' | Nominated: four additional Golden Mask awards, including Best Director – O-y. Late Love

2017 Honorary Professorship at GITIS | Union of Theatre Workers Gvozd' sezona (“Hit of the Season”) Prize – In Their Own Words. A. Pushkin's 'Eugene Onegin' | Nominated: five Golden Mask awards, including Drama/Best Small-Scale Production and Best Director – Last Rendezvous in Venice

2020 Golden Mask for Best Director– Seryozha

2021 Golden Mask for Best Actor (Timofei Tribuntsev) – Boris | Nominated: four additional Golden Mask awards, including Drama/Best Small Scale Production and Best Director

2022 Golden Mask for Best Director and Best Actor (Yevgeny Tsyganov) – Mozart Don Juan. Dress Rehearsal | Nominated: seven additional Golden Mask awards, including Drama/Best Large Scale Production – Mozart Don Juan. Dress Rehearsal ; five Golden Mask awards, including Drama/Best Small Scale Production and Best Director -- We Are All Here

2023 Nominated: five Golden Mask awards, including Drama/Best Large Scale Production. No award given for Best Director.