LIFT Takes Dmitry Krymov's OPUS NO7 on UK Tour, May-June 2014

One of Russia's most original contemporary theatre directors, Dmitry Krymov, will bring his remarkable Opus No7 to the UK this summer in a national tour, breathing exhilarating emotional life into stories of Soviet oppression and censorship.

Coming from a world of visual art and design, Dmitry Krymov and his ensemble of artists and stage designers turned performers, The Dmitry Krymov Lab, build vast poetic imagery to create majestic, moving and witty experiences.

Opus No7 places its audience on the stage, tantalisingly close to the action of a genre- defying double bill. The oppression of Soviet Jews and the censorship of Shostakovich under Stalin, and the legacies of these events, are depicted through larger-than-life puppets, duelling pianos, living walls and blizzards of newsprint. Epic images are conjured up from the simplest of materials - by turns tender and delicate, comedic and sinister.

Dmitry Krymov is one of the most innovative directors to emerge in Moscow in the last decade. Beginning as a stage designer in the mid-1970s, from the late 1980s to the early 2000s he preferred to develop his highly successful career as a painter, with paintings in numerous museums and private collections worldwide including the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, the State Russian Museums, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Vatican Museum. Krymov is currently a professor at the Russian Academy of Theatre. Amongst other awards he is a recipient of the Stanislavski (2006), Turandot (2007 and 2009 ) and Golden Mask (2008) awards.

'This is mouth-watering theatre on a grand scale, and ensuring that bigger, broader audiences have the opportunity to experience incredible international theatre is a passion for us all. To that end I'm delighted to be working so closely with my colleagues in Brighton, Norwich, Newcastle and at the Barbican to ensure that Russia's boldest and most inventive theatrical force will be thrilling audiences across England.' Mark Ball, Artistic Director of LIFT #LIFT2014 #OpusNo7

The Opus No7 tour is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Supported by the British Council and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

#OpusNo7

3 - 8 May
Brighton Festival
Please go to www.brightonfestival.org for full details and booking information

#BF2014

14 - 17 May
Norfolk & Norwich Festival
Please go to www.nnfestival.org.uk for full details and booking information

#@NNFest14

4 - 14 June
Barbican Theatre
Please go to www.barbican.org.uk for full details and booking information

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19 - 21 June

Northern Stage, Newcastle
Please go to www.northernstage.co.uk for full details and booking information

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For more information, follow #LIFT2014 or visit liftfestival.com.