Our mission: The Plagiarists 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 commonplace and ultimately enlarges the world.
Living the Dream (as Set A Spell Productions, with Maryaska Productions)
January 7th through February 11th, 2007 at City Lit Theatre
Written & Performed By: Kaitlin Byrd, James Dunn, Layne Manzer, Justine Turner, Lindsay Verstegen
Director: Gregory Peters
Stage Manager: Holly Steinhausen
Tech Direction, Set & Lighting Design: Andrew Marchetti
Production Manager: Layne Manzer
Costume Consultant: Bridget Barclay-Peters
Publicity Design: Ian Miller
Before we were The Plagiarists, we made this show together, an original comedy about being struggling artists in this new century: the bad plays, awkward auditions, dead end jobs, one's own clumsiness, naïveté, and doubt. A show for anyone who's ever pursued a dream and come up a bit short. Chronicling the chronically embarrassing lives of five unknown Chicago actors, the show was thinly veiled biography, absurd satire, situation comedy, and heartfelt confessional all rolled into one, written by the ensemble.
Reviews:
“…A uniformly appealing cast that’s adept at nailing the comedy of everyday interactions… there’s enough fresh material here to suggest great things in this young company’s future.” -Kay Daly, TimeOut Chicago
“…these performers have the ability to take the familiar and make it feel fresh.” -Kerry Reid, Chicago Tribune
“A funny piece filled with heart” -Tom Williams, ChicagoCritic.com
“Dream is... touching and funny...spins individual stories with a minimum of angst and a maximum of humor.” -Catey Sullivan, Windy City Times
The One About the Green Detective
First Run: Mondays, July 12 – July 28, 2008 and
Remount: Mondays, January 5 - February 16, 2009
At The Black Rock Pub
Based on the short story by Jonathan Lethem
Adapted by: Gregory Peters
Directed by: Kaitlin Byrd
Performed by: Jeff Duhigg, James Dunn, Marcus Kamie, Brian Michael Lucas, Layne Manzer, Andrew Marchetti, and Lindsay Verstegen (John Blick replaced Jeff Duhigg in the remount)
Original Score Created & Performed By: The Every People Jazz Workshop
Stage Manager: Chad Brown
Production Manager: Justine Turner
This jazz-fueled postmodern neo-noir may begin with a joke, but the killer isn’t the punch line. Equal parts mystery, parody, and meditation on the nature of humor, this short play, based on Jonathan Lethem’s story, featured original music and live accompaniment by The Every People Jazz Workshop. Each night after the show, the band played a set. James Dunn & Gregory Peters (as fictional hard-boiled noir writer Frank Fletcher) created a short piece that ran before & after the show, and then concluded before the band’s set. We remounted the show in 2009 for a second successful run.
Reviews:
“If you got hooked on Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye when it appeared as this season’s One Book, One Chicago selection, head to The Plagiarists’ production of The One About the Green Detective. -Metro mix
“The work is consistently charming, hip, and evocative”
-Justin Hayford, Chicago Reader (Recommended review)
“There can be no better way to dispel the post-weekend blues”
- Laura Kolb, Centerstag Chicago (Critic’s Pick review)
At The Black Rock Pub
Based on the short story by Jonathan Lethem
Adapted by: Gregory Peters
Directed by: Kaitlin Byrd
Performed by: Jeff Duhigg, James Dunn, Marcus Kamie, Brian Michael Lucas, Layne Manzer, Andrew Marchetti, and Lindsay Verstegen (John Blick replaced Jeff Duhigg in the remount)
Original Score Created & Performed By: The Every People Jazz Workshop
Stage Manager: Chad Brown
Production Manager: Justine Turner
This jazz-fueled postmodern neo-noir may begin with a joke, but the killer isn’t the punch line. Equal parts mystery, parody, and meditation on the nature of humor, this short play, based on Jonathan Lethem’s story, featured original music and live accompaniment by The Every People Jazz Workshop. Each night after the show, the band played a set. James Dunn & Gregory Peters (as fictional hard-boiled noir writer Frank Fletcher) created a short piece that ran before & after the show, and then concluded before the band’s set. We remounted the show in 2009 for a second successful run.
Reviews:
“If you got hooked on Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye when it appeared as this season’s One Book, One Chicago selection, head to The Plagiarists’ production of The One About the Green Detective. -Metro mix
“The work is consistently charming, hip, and evocative”
-Justin Hayford, Chicago Reader (Recommended review)
“There can be no better way to dispel the post-weekend blues”
- Laura Kolb, Centerstag Chicago (Critic’s Pick review)
Promiscuous Stories
Oct. 20 – Nov. 23, 2008 at The Athenaeum Theatre
Based on short stories by Jonathan Lethem
Adapted by: Kaitlin Byrd, Gregory Peters, and Lindsay Verstegen
Directed by: Gregory Peters
Featuring: Chad Brown, James Dunn, William Heafer, Jordan Hoisington, Tony Kaehny, Marcus Kamie, Sara McCarthy, Erin Reitz, Jennifer Santenello, Jack Tamburri, Justine C. Turner, and Jeremy van Meter
Stage Manager: Casey Adams
Production Manager: Layne Manzer
Technical Director: Paul Kastner
Scenic Design: Diane Fairchild
Lighting Design: Matthew Miller
Costume Design: Mieka van der Ploeg
Sound Design: Chas Vrba
Assistant Director: Kaitlin Byrd
Movement Captain: Lindsay Verstegen
Original Music: Mikel Avery
Master Electrician: Sean Mallary
Props Master: Bridget Barclay-Peters
Puppet Design/Construction: Andrew Marchetti
Board Operator: Hiroko Arai
Projection Design: Nathan Young
Film Crew Director and Camera: Joseph Buszek
Film Crew Camera: Anthony Rossetti
Film Editor: Nathan Young
Promotional Art: Tony Fitzpatrick
The Plagiarists’ first independent full-length production, Promiscuous Stories is based on the work of Jonathan Lethem, New York Times bestselling author. The play brings to life Lethem’s unique and indelible stories, creating a world which is disturbing and heartwarming, funny and frightening, as it explores the paradoxes of our modern experience.
Reviews:
“Here's hoping the Plagiarists are already preparing volume two.”
- Justin Hayford, The Chicago Reader (Recommended review)
“Stories is nothing if not horny for pop culture, fetishizing (intelligently) everything from Ward and June Cleaver domesticity to Orson Welles’s late-career product endorsements; the resulting stew will stick to your ribs. And even as it rambles, the evening proves Lethem’s point: The material may be plagiarized, but the product feels wholly original.” -Christopher Piatt, TimeOut Chicago
American Stage Sessions
Mon – Wed, October 5 - November 3, 2009 at The Viaduct Theatre
Written by: The Plagiarists
Directed by: Steve Wilson
Technical Direction & Design by: Matt Miller
Featuring: Chad Brown, Kaitlin Byrd, James Dunn, Layne Manzer, Gregory Peters, Ryan Palmer, Justine C. Turner, and Lindsay Verstegen
To save The Muskogee County Magic Theatre Players from bankruptcy, Mitch Newman and The Professor host a telethon featuring the work of some of this century’s most imaginary playwrights, whose controversial lives and writings have heretofore been unexamined because they are completely made up. Created from the three American Stage Sessions pieces The Plagiarists created for the Abbie Hoffman Festival (which are themselves a Trilogy of Trilogies, or “Cubed Trilogy”)
Reviews:
"Go see this production immediately. This is a group of performers you'll want to keep track of. And who doesn't want the chance to laugh their A.S.S. off?” - Jessie Fisher, Cheeky Chicago
"Moments had me laughing so hard I could barely catch my breath…the entire cast creates sharp characters…with excellent timing and physical comedy skills. It’s a delightful way to spend a Monday or Tuesday night…." - Zev Valancy,On Chicago Theatre
"It's a really fun show, peppered with the kind of joyously low-fi stage magic that should be synonymous with Storefront Theater." - Benno Nelson, The@er
"The P's do an amazing job of keeping the surprises coming over the course of three acts; we can only advise you to go and see for yourself." - Lauri Apple,Chicagoist
"...the spot-on allusions to the tropes of both Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neill...are both sly and broad. The ensemble goes balls-out, too..." - Kris Vire, The TOC Blog
Image by Ian Miller
The Wreck of The Medusa
April 8 - May 9, 2010 at Angel Island
Created by: Ian Miller & Gregory Peters
Written by: Gregory Peters
Directed by: Jack Tamburri
Featuring: Chad Brown, James Dunn, Christopher Genovese, Marsha Harman, Greg Hess,
Kasia Januszewski, Andrew Marchetti, Griffin Sharps, Christopher Marcum, Kevin V. Smith, Steven Wilson
Stage Manager: Kim Miller
Assistant Stage Manager: Lorenzo Blackett
Technical Director: Paul Kastner
Assistant Director: Jack Dugan Carpenter
Production Manager: Katherine Welham
Scenic Designer: William Anderson
Lighting Designer: Matthew Gawryk
Sound Designer: Christopher Kriz
Costume Designer: Anna Glowacki
Projection Designer: Ian Miller
Prop Designer: Katherine Greenleaf
Dramaturg: Drew Dir
Charge Artist: Coco
Plagiarist Director of Production: Layne Manzer
Carpenters: Shawn Pfautsch, Dusty Wilson, Kevin O'Brien, Bill Paton
It was the worst naval disaster of the 19th century. In 1816, the French frigate Medusa ran aground off the coast of Africa. In the ensuing chaos, 150 passengers were forced onto a makeshift raft and abandoned while the captain safely sailed to shore. When the 15 raft survivors returned to France to tell their story, they were blacklisted and slandered by a government desperate to cover up the truth. A collage of perspectives, The Wreck of The Medusa uses the survivors' firsthand accounts, as well as the bizarre variety of artworks inspired by the event--including a British musical melodrama and Gericault's notorious painting--to tell this gripping story of politics, cannibalism, and art.
Reviews:
"There are plays that you admire; since their productions are also admirable, you recommend them. There are plays that you carry with you long after you leave the theater; these you recommend highly. Then, there are plays that you wish would spread like wildfire around the world and this play is one of them."
- Paige Listerud, Chicago Theatre Blog
"Ambitious and inventive"
Chicago Reader
SELECTED FESTIVAL ENTRIES
AMERICAN STAGE SESSIONS - HISTORY OF WORLD DRAMA PART 156: The Corsage, the Lamp, and The Quilt: A Closer Look At The Works Of Herzlichen Gluckwunsch Zum Geburtstag
Part of Mary Arrchie’s Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sins Festival, August 17, 18, and 19, 2007 @ Angel Island
Written by: The Plagiarists
Performed by: Kaitlin Byrd, James Dunn, Layne Manzer, Gregory Peters, Justine C. Turner, and Lindsay Verstegen
Stage Manager: Casey Adams
Our first show as The Plagiarists, this hysterical and bizarre exploration of the work of a fictional German absurdist (or just terrible) playwright was the hit of The Abbie Hoffmann Festival.
CHI-CAGO HAPPENS!!!
Part of LOOPTOPIA (Presented by the Chicago Loop Alliance)
May 2, 2008 in The Loop
Written & Performed By: James Dunn, Layne Manzer, Gregory Peters, Justine C. Turner, and Lindsay Verstegen
For Looptopia, The Plagiarists created a fictional tour company and gave very special walking tours. After a tour from one of our guides - a failing but overenthused actress (actually a recurring character from Living The Dream), a sullen comic book nerd, a charlatan mystic, a seven-foot drag queen, or the insane, disowned son of one of Chicago’s wealthiest families – the loop would never seem the same again.
AMERICAN STAGE SESSIONS - HISTORY OF WORLD DRAMA PART 237: Summer, Summer, Hot, Hot; The Oranges of Anger; and Blue Roses & Sapphire Wine: A Closer Look At The Work of Alabama O’Dell
Part of Mary Arrchie’s Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sins Festival, Aug. 22, 23, and 24, 2008 @ Angel Island
Written by: The Plagiarists
Performed by: Kaitlin Byrd, James Dunn, Layne Manzer, Gregory Peters, Justine C. Turner, and Lindsay Verstegen
Stage Manager: Chad Brown
The Plagiarists returned to Mary Arrchie’s annual theatre marathon armed with stories of city farms, muddogs, vaudeville acts, and one epically bizarre family from the work of Alabama O’Dell, the most prolific, mendacious, litigious, chemically dependent, and fictional American playwright in history.
AMERICAN STAGE SESSIONS - HISTORY OF WORLD DRAMA PART 994: The Industrial Revelation, Seven Day Work Week: Muesday, Tednesday, Wursday, Thriday, Faturday, Sunday, and Sonday; and The Milk of Human Trashes: A Closer Look At The Works Of Elmer Templeton Shirley III
Part of Mary Arrchie’s Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sins Festival, Aug. 22, 23, and 24, 2009 @ Angel Island
Written by: The Plagiarists
Performed by: Chad Brown, Kaitlin Byrd, James Dunn, Andrew Marchetti, Gregory Peters, Justine C. Turner, and Lindsay Verstegen
Stage Manager: Kim Miller
The third and final chapter of the American Stage Sessions trilogy until the next chapter, this entry examined the work of Elmer Templeton Shirley the Third. This expatriate playwright’s complete ignorance of working people, basic economics, political theory, and even human behavior didn’t stop him from writing epic political plays or from emigrating to Russia. The man known as “Stalin’s Favorite Playwright” was rumored to have been shot by Uncle Joe himself.
AMERICAN STAGE SESSIONS - HISTORY OF WORLD DRAMA PART 978: Oh! Thou Flickering, Too, Too Brief Humanity! Out Too Soon!; Hypertrophyism; and Lordy, Lordy Look Who’s Forty: A Closer Look At The Work of Leslie Blomp
Part of Mary Arrchie’s Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sins Festival, Aug. 22, 23, and 24, 2010 @ Angel Island
Written by: The Plagiarists
Performed by: Chad Brown, Kaitlin Byrd, James Dunn, Paul Kastner, Gregory Peters, Jack Tamburri, and Lindsay Verstegen
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The fourth entry in the famed but now misnamed American Stage Sessions Trilogy follows the work of cutting-edge playwright Leslie Blomp, winner of the under-12 Pulitzer Prize as a child, whose metatheatrical work reflects both her personal unhappiness as well as her hatred of theatre, success, and all of humanity.
Even The Naysayers Had a Good Time: Stuff About Rich Cotovsky
Part of WBEZ’s The Alternative History of Chicago Theater (Abridged)
Wednesday, March 2 2011 at the Chopin Theatre
Written by: The Plagiarists
Performed by: James Dunn
This monologue combined our interviews with storefront theatre veteran Rich Cotovsky with material from beat writers, Abbie Hoffmann, and our own experiences for an electric look at the history of storefront theatre, what it means, and where it’s headed.
AMERICAN STAGE SESSIONS - HISTORY OF WORLD DRAMA PART 1,001: Secret Agent Space Reptile Genocide!; Inmongst The High Cathanctum Of The Monstabulary Of The Coremost Of The Underground Hive-Warrens Of The Dutifaithful Of The Churchligion Of The Omnigulent Zarog; and Pathetic! No More: A Closer Look At The Work of O. Glennard Shiffley
Part of Mary Arrchie’s Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sins Festival, 2012 @ Angel Island
Written by: The Plagiarists
Performed by: Chad Brown, James Dunn, Paul Kastner, Sara Jean McCarthy, Gregory Peters, and Jessica Saxvik
The fifth extant American Stage Session takes a stroll through the life and career of O. Glennard Shiffley, hack sci-fi playwright, rich recluse, convicted criminal, self-styled messiah, and founder of Astrospectraphrenology. Featuring his early sci-fi work as well as his later Astrospectraphrenologist works, introducing concepts like Waste Gatherment, Elective Amputation, and the Pepper Hood. VIVA ZAROG!