IVAN VYRYPAEV: Described by the New York Times as 'Europe's most promising playwright', Ivan Vyrypaev has become one of the best-known and most frequently staged theatre practitioners across the globe. After graduating from the Theatre Academy in Irkutsk, Russia, Vyrypaev worked with theatres in Magadan, Kamchatka and Irkutsk. From 2005–2016 he worked with the iconic Praktika Theater in Moscow, where he was the artistic director from 2013 to 2016. Vyrypaev's dramas create a new type of communication with viewers: the actors and the audience are aware of their mutual presence; the language used is simultaneously poetic and metaphysical. Currently, Vyrypaev is the co-owner and head producer of the WEDA PROJECT theatre company in Warsaw, Poland.

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VIKTOR RYZHAKOV is a renowned stage and movie director, and a recipient of countless international theatre prizes including, in 2020, a Golden Mask Award for his production of Ivan Vyrypaev’s “Iran Conference” at Moscow’s Theatre of Nations. Among many other projects, Ryzhakov founded the international theatre group Karaul No.8, which over the years participated in international festivals in Edinburgh, Los Angeles, Tbilisi, Lodz, Vienna and Magnitogorsk. Up until recently he was the Artistic Director of the Sovremennik Theatre in Moscow.