Interview with caryn desai (sic)

Ben Miles

International City Theatre is a long-standing mainstay on the cultural scene in Long Beach. In accordance with its organizational mission statement ICT “entertains, educates, inspires and provokes thoughtful dialogue through live theatre.”

As the Beachcomber theatre columnist I recently had an engaging and informative dialogue with ICT Artistic Director caryn desai (sic), she spells her name in lower case letters as a connection to her craft and to her friend who put her name in lower case letters on a poster for a show caryn directed in grad school). Running a company of any sort or size is a challenge – failures are many and success is often accompanied by high levels of stress – but a theater company is an especially daunting task. Nevertheless, Ms. desai has developed and sustained ICT for over three decades through diligent adherence to the mission statement (the company’s founder is Shashin Desai, now Ms. desai’s husband). Moreover, ICT has, as a mid-sized organization, committed itself to contributing to the preservation and development of theatre as an art form; participating in creative leadership to solve problems and address issues; and to presenting the highest quality productions and educational programs possible to reach the diverse Long Beach community.

In addition to staging five productions a season, ICT has several community and educational outreach programs, including Performing Arts Classroom Teaching (PACT); a Senior Outreach Program; a Summer Youth Conservatory; the Students to Stage Program; the Free Saturday Family Theatre Series; and an Internship Program, which offers some paid positions that can lead to union membership. (Additionally – in this season, ICT’s 34th – the stage productions range from the fun-filled musical comedy “Life Could Be a Dream” to Arthur Miller’s drama “The Price” to the world premiere of Peter Quilter’s comic tale of murderous mayhem “Bestseller” to the movingly amusing “Beast on the Moon” to a musical based on Billie Holiday’s final concert titled “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill”).

To sustain an interest in theatre arts Ms. desai – who also directs some of the ICT productions, including this season’s penultimate production of “Beast on the Moon” – says that education and introducing children to the theatre arts early on is essential. What’s more, Ms. desai suggests that theatre has from its ancient inception been “an essential platform for freedom of speech.” 

ICT is a 501c3 non-profit organization; its funding comes from grants and donations but 45% to 50% of the ICT budget is made up by ticket sales, which is why Ms. desai emphasizes the importance of season subscribers. As subscribers, people guarantee themselves a season’s worth of quality live entertainment with an opportunity to learn and grow as they open themselves to new experiences; they also become supporters of an art form that’s been in existence for 2,500 years and is a foundation to better understanding our shared humanity.

To learn more about International City Theatre – programs, productions and volunteer opportunities – visit InternationalCityTheatre.org

ben@beachcomber.news

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