Art in the Time of Plagiarism- Step Right Up!,

Emma Cullimore

The Plagiarists mission is to “steal from literature, visual art, history, and the culture at large to create new theatre that finds the familiar in the strange, the unique in the common place, and ultimately enlarges the world.” Our manifesto is "The Ecstasy of Influence" by Jonathan Lethem, an essay about cultural ownership and artistic influence which argues that current ideas about plagiarism, borrowing, and remaking art are detrimental to creativity and a historical aberration; that art is a gift given to its audience; and that drawing on those gifts to make your own work is how the artistic creation process works. We believe that theatre is inherently a living, breathing form that demands new approaches and new work for (and from) each generation to remain vital and retain cultural relevance. As such, we see our mission as not simply to steal, but to bend and break the stolen objects into new forms, ideas, and theatre for current audiences. We grew up submerged in both high and low culture, and our work reflects the blending, allusion, remixing, repurposing and critical response that flourishes in the post-modern era alongside the epic, honest, and questioning nature inherent in theatre.