Star Russian director in exile brings vision of Dickens to London

Dmitry Krymov, who left Moscow after the Ukraine invasion, plans hybrid show with UK and Russian actors

- Vanessa Thorpe

The acclaimed Russian stage director Dmitry Krymov the winner of many of Moscow's top theatre prizes before his exile due to public criticism of the invasion of Ukraine, has spoken angrily of the impact of the war ahead of his first work with British actors.

The Moscow-born director, 70, plans to use Dickens's two stories Great Expectations and Hard Times to create a new performance.

Arriving in London this weekend for a short stay, Krymov, who is regarded by many western theatre pundits as among the best directors in the world, told the Observer he wants to link British and Russian performers and audiences, despite the divisions caused by President Vladimir Putin.

"It is because of this that we wanted to create our Dickens show," he said, before the first of his acting workshops. The rehearsals have been set up by Margaret Cox, the writer and producer who is also the daughter of the Scottish Succession star Brian Cox, in collaboration with one of Krymov's former students, Lucie Dawkins of Scrum Theatre in Hammersmith. "My brother, the actor Alan Cox, and I have long admired Krymov, so we have been supporting him in any way we can," said Cox.