The idea
Mimetolith is a third-party education provider and arts initiative working to explore and encourage creative practice in a variety of settings including the criminal justice sector.
While we use physical theatre and comics as starting points for our work, our mission is to make artistic expression accessible for all, and we work closely with participants to find the right tools to tell their stories their way. In 2025 we received funding from the Converge Challenge in association with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to make this mission a reality.
Who are we?
Artistic Director: Isaac Burnett (BA Hons, MLitt, TQFE)
Isaac Burnett is an interdisciplinary artist, theatre maker, cartoonist and educator based in Dundee, Scotland.
Before founding Mimetolith in 2025, he worked as a drama facilitator across a variety of settings, from children’s theatre workshops to college lecturing. Influenced by practitioners including Jaques Lecoq, Lynda Barry and Augusto Boal, his work with i.e. Theatre exemplifies the accessible, grassroots approach he aims to bring to his teaching in practice.
Our Values
our approach to criminal justice emphasises rehabilitation and change on both an individual and systemic level (as opposed to retributive models emphasising punishment).
Transformative Justice
1
we believe in education as a human right (see below) and advocate for transformative learning as a key component of criminal justice.
Education
2
working to develop creative communities of practice within and without prisons is at the heart of the social aspects of our projects.
Community
3
while we hope that our projects can hope to reduce recidivism (“re-offending”) and increase desistance, our values are based on the principle of education and art as human rights and the practice of equality rather than a conditional offer.