Krymov laboratory. Dmitry Krymov. Master Class. Contemporary art and work with students

The laboratory of Dmitry Krymov, one of the most important aesthetic revolutionaries of modern Russian theater, has existed since October 2004. During this time, more than ten performances were created, each of which opened a new topic in the study of the “artist’s theater.” Levels of perception of space, the nature of the appearance of an image, visual expressiveness and accuracy along with paradox, unexpected associative series and piercing sincerity, the nature of the existence of an actor in the conditions of an unusual artistic structure - all this is just a small and rather conventional list of topics that theater critics love to talk about in connections with the creativity of the Laboratory participants.
In August 2012, Dmitry Krymov's play A Midsummer Night's Dream (a joint production of the Chekhov International Theater Festival and the School of Dramatic Art Theater) received an award at the 66th International Edinburgh Arts Festival.

Dmitry Krymov was born in 1954 into the family of Anatoly Efros and Natalya Krymova, probably the most famous director and theater critic of the Soviet era. In 1976 he graduated from the Moscow Art Theater School as a theater artist and set designer. In 1976 he began working at the Theater on Malaya Bronnaya. Among the performances he designed, staged by Anatoly Efros, are “Othello” by W. Shakespeare (1976), “A Month in the Country” by I. Turgenev (1977), “Summer and Smoke” by T. Williams (1980), “Memory” by A. Arbuzov (1981 ), “Napoleon the First” by F. Bruckner, “Theater Director” by I. Dvoretsky (1983), etc.. At the Moscow Art Theater. A. Chekhov designed the performances “Tartuffe” by J. B. Moliere, “The Living Corpse” by L. Tolstoy, “Attempt to Flight” by J. Radichkov (1984). At the Taganka Drama and Comedy Theater he worked on the following plays: “War Doesn’t Have a Woman’s Face” by S. Alexievich (1985), “One and a Half Square Meters” based on the story by B. Mozhaev and “The Misanthrope” by J. -B. Moliere (1986). He designed performances in other theaters in Moscow, Russia and the world. In the early 90s, Dmitry Krymov left the theater and took up easel art: painting, graphics, installation. Participated in many group and personal exhibitions, both in Russia and abroad. Since 2004, he has directed the Creative Laboratory at the School of Dramatic Art theater in Moscow and staged performances with the participation of his art students and young actors, recent graduates of RUTI-GITIS and the Shchukin School. The following performances were staged at the Laboratory by Dmitry Krymov: “Innuendos”, “Three Sisters”, “Sir Vantes. Donky hot”, “Trading”, “Demon. View from above", "Cow", "Opus No. 7", "Katerina's Dreams", "Death of the Giraffe", "Tararabumbia", "Katya, Sonya, Polya, Galya, Vera, Olya, Tanya", In Paris, " X. M. Mixed technique.”

I remember the release of the program “School of Scandal,” where Anatoly Vasiliev, the founder of the “School of Dramatic Art,” spoke about the ideal of his Theater, presenting it (the Theater) as a kind of tent, where the action goes on regardless of the presence of the viewer: the viewer can come to the Theater at any time time, he can also leave it, but the action will remain uninterrupted, it has happened and will continue to happen, i.e. Theater, in Vasiliev’s understanding, is nothing more than a separate, autonomous world, within which its own laws and principles operate.
Putting a similar concept of understanding the life activity of the Theater, Dmitry Krymov, puts on another experiment in his Laboratory, the result of which is a performance under the strange name of ordered female names "Katya, Sonya, Polya, Galya, Vera, Olya, Tanya" based on the cycle of Bunin's stories from the book " Dark alleys". This performance (unlike the book, where the reader is possessed by something tragic, dark and sweetly poignant to the soul) is a complete joke. With a twisted grin. Changeling. Or, to put it even more precisely, focus.
You enter the hall and, in slight confusion, think whether you came in early? But go further along the rows, because, it seems, everyone is passing too, and then sit down in your place. And the actors are already walking around the stage, not paying any attention to you: some are changing clothes, some are putting on makeup. One gets the feeling that you were simply given the opportunity to peek through the peephole at the preparations for the performance.
And then you see how the wiring lights up, how a fire breaks out, an explosion occurs (probably as a metaphor for love experiences) and the actors run off the stage in a panic, and you, the viewer. sit anyway (you were allowed to peek, so you peek). Then, before your eyes, a woman is mercilessly sawed into a box, and she is left without legs, cries a little, vainly tries on the legs of a mannequin, but then another woman appears (also, by the way, from the box), and we see her love story, she laughs and too cries a little, and then she is replaced by a third woman, and the third by a fourth, fourth-fifth, fifth-sixth, sixth-seventh. And each has its own story. For a few minutes. In a few fragmentary words-memories. And for some reason all of them (heroines) appear on stage from boxes. Like dolls. Like living sculptures, frozen in time, in the memory of the rememberer.
Throughout the entire performance, the director and actors never cease to amaze the viewer, showing trick after trick (the famous illusionist Rafael Tsitalashvili is involved in the performance, whose work looks especially impressive). In addition to the fact that the first heroine, who was sawed at the beginning and who lay motionless throughout the entire performance (!), has legs, and she passionately dances her love dance with a man, the entire stage action of the play is inverted by the director, staged in a completely different time-space. It turns out that all these women with their frayed nerves are simply dried herbariums of love (it turns out that we watched on stage as the director took and mysteriously opened before us the book of Bunin’s “Dark Alleys”, turning over the pages in front of us, between which the dried flowers of the past were preserved lives). And it also turns out that all these women are just exhibits in a museum, where the school teacher brought careless eleventh-graders to a literature lesson, constantly chewing something and laughing about some nasty things. Everything turns into some kind of irony with a bitter aftertaste. There was living love. And now all that remains are dusty textbook publications in school libraries. Time doesn't kill, but it distorts. And looking at this trick, you can only be surprised at such a particularly fast and unpredictable outcome of events. But the female heroines were crying and the men were passing women’s underwear from each other’s hands, wrapped in thoughts of pleasure. And now a crowd of eleventh-graders, without showing the slightest interest, leaves the hall, laughing fervently and pushing each other, behind a diligent young teacher, probably still inexperienced in love.
And you stay. And you, too, seem to have to leave somehow. You get up from your chair and are perplexed by such a strange reality with ordered events called life.

Dmitry Krymov is a director, artist, teacher, theater set designer and simply an incredibly talented person. He is a member of the Union of Artists and the Union of Theater Workers of Russia, his performances always resonate and make the viewer think. Krymov has a great many prizes at International Theater Festivals behind him. His paintings are exhibited in the best art galleries in the world. Who is he, how does he live and what does he talk about in his spare time? All this is covered in our review.

Biography

Dmitry Anatolyevich Krymov was born in October 1954 in Moscow. His father is a famous stage director and his mother is theater critic and art critic Natalya Krymova. As a child, Dmitry received his mother’s surname, because his father belonged to a Jewish family, and in Soviet times this was a certain label. Anatoly Efros had to overcome numerous obstacles in his career that arose because of his origin, and his parents decided to protect their son’s future from unnecessary problems.

Dmitry Anatolyevich followed in the footsteps of his talented parents. As soon as he received his matriculation certificate, he immediately entered the production department of the Moscow Art Theater School. In 1976, after graduating, he went to gain his first professional experience in Dmitry, who created his first scenographic works for his father’s productions. Among the performances of those years one can highlight “The Living Corpse” by Tolstoy, “A Month in the Country” by Turgenev, “Summer and Smoke” by Williams, “Memory” by Arbuzov, etc.

Theater activities

Since 1985, Krymov has worked on artistic productions at the Taganka Theater: “War Doesn’t Have a Woman’s Face,” “One and a Half Square Meters,” “The Misanthrope” - with his participation, these performances saw the light of day. Dmitry Krymov worked not only with the Taganka Theater. The set designer collaborated with theaters in Riga, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, and Nizhny Novgorod. The geography of his creative activity covers Bulgaria, Japan, and the countries of the former Soviet republics. Krymov's track record as an artist and set designer includes about a hundred performances. Dmitry Anatolyevich collaborated with such eminent directors as Tovstonogov, Portnov, Arie, Shapiro and others.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a difficult situation arose in the country, and Krymov was forced to leave his job as a set designer. In addition, shortly before the events of the early 90s, Dmitry’s father, Anatoly Efros, passed away. According to the director and set designer himself, after the death of his loved one, the theater became uninteresting to him. The awareness of his father’s greatness in the profession and his own helplessness settled in his soul. Then it seemed to the man that he would never enter this water again, and there would be no more visual theater in his life. Krymov Dmitry decided to end everything and find himself in a new business. He took up painting and graphics, and, it is worth noting, he was very good at it. Dmitry Anatolyevich's paintings were exhibited in the Russian Museum, in museums in Western Europe - France, Germany, England.

Today the artist’s paintings are in the Tretyakov Gallery and

Since 2002, Dmitry Krymov has been teaching at the Russian Academy. He directs the course for theater artists. In addition, the director heads a creative Laboratory in a theater called the “School of Dramatic Art” in Moscow. Together with graduates of GITIS and the Shchukin School, Krymov brings his own ideas and thoughts to life on the theater stage, performances participate in International festivals around the world.

About the modern viewer

Krymov is an incredibly interesting conversationalist. You can discuss various issues with him; he has his own opinion on everything. Contemporary theater is one of these hot topics. Today in the world of art there is a clear opposition between the classical school of theater and innovative approaches to creating performances. According to the director, these disputes are secondary. Krymov confidently states that the main thing today is the interest of the consumer.

Coming to a performance, the viewer should be terribly curious. On the one hand, he should be interested in everything that happens on stage, on the other hand, he should not fully understand the meaning of everything that happens. Understanding must constantly catch up with interest, and in the end they must converge. Of course, the modern viewer is a sophisticated gourmet. Gone are the days when people watched everything that was given. Today everything is different. Therefore, all that is required of the director is to arouse such curiosity and interest in the viewer, and the viewer’s task is to drive away skepticism and try to “feed” curiosity within himself.

According to Dmitry Anatolyevich, in order to “correctly” watch the performances of the Laboratory, you need to do just a few simple things: come to the performance, sit down, fold your hands on your knees and watch. Moreover, Dmitry Krymov does not recommend wearing jackets, short dresses and high platform shoes - in his opinion, it will be terribly uncomfortable for the viewer to sit on small chairs. Of course, this is humor, but there is also a rational grain in it.

Russian Psychological Theater

Today we are increasingly faced with discussions on the topic of dramatic psychological theater. Here and there there are calls to protect it (the theater) from pseudo-innovation. This problem is familiar to Krymov, and, by his own admission, it hurts him greatly. The director's opinion is this: if you are a follower of psychological theater, don't call on anyone or anything - just do your job. Live what you preach. But at the same time, give the other the opportunity to express himself as he wants. Yes, you may like it or, on the contrary, irritate you, but you have to accept the fact that it exists. To oppose something new and non-standard is tantamount to opposing modern fine art. It’s great when the viewer has a choice and an alternative, and art, as we know, is limitless.

According to Krymov, a modern director must, first of all, be a strong personality, with his own thoughts. Of course, he simply needs to be able to analyze a work according to the classical school. But this is just a skeleton, a basis for further individual constructions and fantasies.

Contemporary art and work with students

Dmitry Anatolyevich says that it is unpleasant to watch many things that are happening in Russia today. There is a substitution of concepts, failure to fulfill obligations, lack of reforms. For example, the director really does not like such a popular expression as “contemporary art.” He doesn’t understand what meaning this phrase carries. Is contemporary art a cheaper type of art? What about religion then? Could she also be low-grade?

Krymov also has thoughts about reforms in theater education. The director is firmly convinced that it cannot be a beggar. The salaries of university teachers are a disgrace to the entire education system. Officials need to learn that teaching cannot be based on the sheer enthusiasm of people who will simply spend time with students. And in order for the theatrical environment to bear fruit in the form of talented actors and productions that are interesting to the viewer, conditions are necessary - today they do not exist, physically.

Dmitry Krymov teaches his students using his own personal methodology. The director states that young people can only be taught to perceive the experience of others, but it is impossible to follow their path for them. The guys must hear their inner voice themselves, trust it and choose the path. The experience of others only shows that anything is possible. If something works for someone else, it can work for you too. You just need to work hard.

Dmitry Anatolyevich Krymov: who is he?

First of all, he is a son of his Motherland, devoted and loving. When asked about emigration, Krymov resolutely declares that he has no intention of leaving Russia. There are many reasons for this: he has students, actors, a large farm. His parents are buried here, to whose grave he has been coming for many years on his birthday. Krymov admits that today there are fewer and fewer territories where you feel safe, but as long as you can live and create, there is no point in leaving.

He does not celebrate his birthday; he is constantly busy with work. In addition to the most talented director, a core of actors works in Dmitry Krymov’s laboratory, and the “School of Dramatic Art” consists of them. Among the invited people who are not formally part of the laboratory, but with whom the theater constantly collaborates, are such stars as Liya Akhedzhakova, Valery Garkalin.

Dmitry Krymov is a director who admits that he is interested in communicating with young people and watching how they achieve results. He is very demanding and scrupulous in everything. Dmitry Anatolyevich is convinced that a theatrical performance is made by only one person - the director, and he, in turn, must be surrounded by the right people - those who understand him. Krymov claims that he is interested in the opinions of others and is open to dialogue. However, the conversation should be constructive and to the point.

It is important for the director that the output of his work should have three components: his own pleasure from the process, the satisfaction of the actors of the troupe and the interest of the viewer. If these components converge, the director has a powerful incentive to move forward. Krymov claims that he can be cruel if something interferes with the implementation of plans. In such a situation, he always chooses to fight and shows stubbornness. Otherwise, Krymov is a gentle person who respects and loves the people he works with.