the 2008 session, while the International Theatre Institute's Martha Coigney and the Center for International Theatre Development’s Philip Arnoult were both in residence. In 2010 the RDT merged with the company of the Dramatichen Theatre in Plovdiv (Drama Theatre Plovdiv or PDT) at the foot of the Rhodopa Mountains, and the unified company then operated facilities in both locations. In addition to the program's schedule of research trips throughout the region, for the last few years, the RITL held events of each session's performance schedule at the Plovdiv complex. Professional RDT or PDT company members participated in the Lab each summer. The PDT and RDT complex were no longer connected as of the 2012 and final RITL session. Processes Each Lab session consisted of multiple, intertwined professional development, training, and hybrid (professional-student) processes – connected by a set of parallel mythos chosen for each year - and yielded numerous works-in-progress. Master teachers conducted intensive workshops in traditional drama, movement and object-based forms – such as Bharatha Natyam, the Cham Mysteries, Chinese Opera, Commedia dell'Arte, Dervish Dance, Kabuki, Pantomime, Kathakali, Karagoz, Kuruma Ningyo, Ngonpa, Noh, Topeng, Wayang Kulit and the accompanying Gamelan music – and modern approaches, such as those influenced by the Factory of the Eccentric Actor, Michael Chekhov, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Konstantin Stanislavski, Jerzy Grotowski and Tadashi Suzuki. Contemporary artists contributed ongoing work and professional practices. The RITC/RITL developed performances that went on to subsequent productions, runs and tours. In the United States alone, Lab work was further developed and performed at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, the Long Wharf Theatre, the McCarter Theater, and the Mixed Blood Theatre Company, among others. Plays developed at the Lab have been published and made available for production. Contributors Long-term contributors included American poet Holly Karapetkova, American composer Jonathan Snipes, and Bulgarian scholar/director Damyan Popchristov (New York University). Professional resident artists included American puppet artists Tom Lee and Matt Acheson, Vera Stoykova of the State Puppet Theatrein Varna, Bulgaria, Japanese composer/musician Yukio Tsuji, American producer Mara Isaacs, American performer/writer Yehuda Hyman, and Swedish playwright Aditi Kapil. Former Lab students include professionals working throughout the world of theatre, including New York-based director May Adrales. Bulgarian director Stayko Murdjev was an RITC student while at NATFA and then became a professional resident artist, originating pieces at the Lab that he would further develop and re-stage for some of Bulgaria's most influential companies, appearing at