Contamination in theatre: from the original play to the cooperative creative contributions on stage

Theatre problematizes the distinction between work of art and speech in action: dramatic works attain their ideal expression in performance, while the printed form is often seen as secondary. This scenario makes theatre an interesting field for discussing concepts of contamination in art. The aim of this work is to explore the organizational structure of theatre by identifying the relevant stakeholders involved, in order to highlight the various forms of contamination that can exist within this artistic practice. Additionally, the discussion attributes the reasons for this facilitated interchangeability of ideas to the cooperative environment of theatre organizations, which can help creativity. To better understand the features of this organizational setting, we will also refer to contributions from economic theories that analyse horizontal arrangements in firms. These theoretical insights will aid in examining the nature of contamination in our field and discuss its possible limitations.