About the theatre

🎭 The “Stray Dog of San Pedro” Theater is a union of people deeply in love with the art of theater. It was born in 2015 at a Russian school in San Pedro, California.

The name of the theater is a tribute to the legendary artistic cellar “Stray Dog,” which operated in early 20th-century St. Petersburg and welcomed many poets, writers, and artists of the Silver Age. Our first venue was also a brick-walled basement, and the name “San Pedro” echoes the sound of Russia’s northern capital. Fittingly, our debut production was based on works from the Silver Age.

🐾 Another reason for our name is that we’ve long been without a permanent home. So “stray” describes us both literally and metaphorically.

🎭 Our troupe includes actors with experience in professional and amateur theater. Some members hold degrees in acting and directing.

We are united by a powerful drive to create, to explore, and to share the discoveries we make through our productions. We strive for each performance to be a living dialogue with the audience—about enduring values, truths, and the contradictions of our world. For us, theater is, in the words of director Lev Dodin, “an attempt to escape the predetermined course of things, to be saved from the loneliness that surrounds us all, to be saved from the finality of history—not only in the grand sense, but also in our own personal stories.”

🌍 We want people in California to have the opportunity to attend performances in Russian. Our theater is the leading Russian-language theater in Southern California.

📅 Every year, we present dramatic productions and public play readings, drawing from both classical literature and contemporary authors.