Dmitry Krymov

A 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.

Before relocating to New York, Krymov was introduced to American audiences through In Paris, a collaboration with Mikhail Baryshnikov presented by the Lincoln Center Festival in 2011, and Opus #7 at St. Ann’s Warehouse in 2015.

He has also taught at the Yale School of Drama (where he staged The Square Root of Three Sisters), The New School, and Hunter College. After moving to the US, Krymov directed The Cherry Orchard at the Wilma Theater (Philadelphia, PA) and, in 2022, founded Krymov Lab NYC in New York in partnership with La MaMa ETC, and has been the artistic director since then. The company’s sold-out productions have received widespread critical praise, with reviews in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Vulture, and many other publications.

In addition to the Laboratory, Dmitry Krymov has continued to create new work internationally, staging productions in Latvia, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the Czech Republic. His most recent premieres include The Three Musketeers and I at the Národní Divadlo in Prague, Czech Republic (May 2025), and G. Bizet — La Tragédie de Carmen at the Lerici Music Festival in Italy (August 2025).