Maxim Isaev, an artist and performer, is one of the founders of the AKHE Engineering Theatre in St. Petersburg. Together with Pavel Semchenko, he created his own unique artists' theater. A Golden Mask Award winner, he has worked with Slava Polunin and the Derevo Theatre and is a regular participant in European visual, circus, and puppet/object theater festivals. He is also a recipient of the Edinburgh Fringe Award. In March 2022, following an anti-war performance at the Golden Mask Festival, he was forced to cease his public activities and soon left for France. Between 2022 and 2025, AKHE staged several new performances in Europe.