About

east village caravanserai curates and presents dynamic, relevant theatre-based performance fostering dialogue and community.

east village caravanserai curates chamber theatre and other performances in small, accessible community spaces in the East Village/Downtown Long Beach area. Bringing together performing artists and audiences through shows that are socio-politically relevant to Long Beach’s communities, Season 1 projects will include:

Workout Salons: offering writers and other artists the opportunity for new work to be seen, heard and discussed.

THINC (theatre here in the city): short, chamber performances in living-rooms, yards, parks, storefronts, restaurants, public space, etc. Performances involve both new and existing theatre works featuring relevant and timely issues.

Actions including spoken word, films, dance, interdisciplinary performance, and thought leadership salons.

When you attend a caravanserai performance, you may see us roll out a carpet as our playing space. We draw on the tradition of silk route caravans where travelers carried their lodgings rolled up on camels and mules. Like those traders, we see caravanserai as ready to perform wherever there are people gathered – we will roll out our carpet, real or metaphorical, and engage audiences. Peter Brook subscribed to this same idea, “In our work we often use a carpet as a rehearsal zone, with a very clear purpose: off the carpet, the actor is in daily life, he can do what he wants—but as soon as he find himself on the carpet, he is under the obligation of having a clear intention, of being intensely alive, simply because an audience is watching.” Last year, while in Armenia we found our caravanserai carpet, which is now part of our playing spaces.