The company's productions have included both re-imaginings of classics of Western theatre such as Shakespeare's "Richard II" and Moliere's "Tartuffe", but the company is equally well known for their original works. The collective, consisting of 70 members as of July 2009, takes the concept and direction for their original productions from founder Ariane Mnouchkine, and works together in a collaborative rehearsal process that stretches out over many months to create a finished performance event. For example, their six-hour-long 2005 production "Le Dernier Caravansérail (Odyssées)" was based on a compilation of letters and interviews collected by Mnouchkine and her colleagues from refugee camps from around the world, while "Les Ephemeres" in 2009 was based on nine months of improvisations stemming from Mnouchkine's question: What would you do if you found out that all of humanity would die out within three months?