We are Garage Sale, a theatre thing - we strive to create an inclusive and lively theatrical experience. We embrace found and public domain plays, support new works, and encourage artistic collaboration. Our commitment to sustainability leads us to use upcycled materials, collaborate with local artisans, and build genuine community connections. We aim to provide a platform for living artists, giving them space to innovate and grow, while making theatre accessible and enjoyable for everyone. We celebrate the unpredictability and joy of discovery, making each production a unique gem that reflects real life and history. Through our collective efforts, we want to make theatre a vibrant, engaging, and sustainable part of our community.

Artistically led and curated by Eli Carpenter + James Bruenger-Arreguin

What We Program

• Found & Lost Plays – rediscovering public domain works and overlooked gems

• First Looks – gestural productions and experimental stagings

• New York Narratives – stories rooted in and inspired by our city

• The Miracle Garden – playful outdoor programming in public parks for young audiences (and their grown-up pals)

• Zines – documenting the process of developing productions and their scripts.

• New Work + Artist Development – from readings to fully realized labs and productions, to space to gather and create

• Living Room Readings – intimate explorations of new and classic texts

• The Drawing Room – monthly salons for artists to share, connect, and spark ideas (on occasion, these will be themed)

• The General Bazaar – “speed dating” between agents, managers, and theatre artists

• Actual Garage Sales – company-hosted sales where artists share work, objects, and treasures with the community

Garage Sale excavates the overlooked and the ephemeral—lost plays, nascent gestures, and emerging voices—through a lens of sustainability and scholarship. By upcycling materials and recontextualizing texts, we transform cultural detritus into rigorous theatrical inquiry. We foster community through salons, zines, and microgrants, creating a living laboratory where artists test first steps, spark intellectual collisions, and redefine the value of performance in a world of excess.

Some undertakings in our work…

• To make every production feel found—embracing sustainability through upcycled materials (sets, costumes, props), supporting local thrift shops, and celebrating patina

• To create strange, surprising, and joyous theatre

• To invest in living artists and give projects a home at their earliest stages

• To collaborate with and commit to local vendors when building physical productions

• To put the “intellectual” back in intellectual property

• To embrace a nomadic spirit—bringing theatre wherever it needs to live

Why call a theatre company “Garage Sale”?

• A little bit of everything 

• You’ll never know what gem you might find

• Something for everyone 

• Full of true life and history 

• A real human connection (not corporate-created) 

• Reasonable prices

• A myriad of surprises

• Community-based and driven 

• Stupid and sexy things 

• They’re fun!