Professionals, scholars, and students attended the Laboratory - to train, develop new work, and conduct research - representing theatre companies and conservatories in several countries throughout the six inhabited continents.

In 2004, they led the RDT to partner with the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA) in Sofia, the Center for Research in Engineering, Media and Performance (REMAP) at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Zagreb's Academy of Dramatic Art to present the 2005 RITC.

UCLA REMAP's Executive Director Jeff Burke led workshops and collaborations every summer, directing teams of artists and researchers to experiment with emerging technologies and different forms of performance - made possible by multiple grants of support from the Trust for Mutual Understanding.

The program grew considerably as Italian dramaturg Sergio Costola (Southwestern University) and American director Jed Allen Harris (Carnegie Mellon School of Drama) joined as yearly contributors in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

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.

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 festivals throughout Europe.