Joint Stock Theatre Group

A British experimental theater group founded in 1974 by Max Stafford-Clark, David Hare, and David Aukin, the Joint Stock Theatre Group was dedicated to developing new writing for the theater. Workshops set up by William Gaskill and Stafford-Clark resulted in a unique working method which placed actors and the director in collaboration with the playwright.

Administrative History

History

A British experimental theatre group founded in 1974 by Max Stafford-Clark, David Hare, and David Aukin, the Joint Stock Theatre Group was dedicated to developing new writing for the theatre. Workshops set up by William Gaskill and Max Stafford-Clark resulted in a unique working method which placed actors and director in collaboration with the playwright.

In January of 1974, the Joint Stock Theatre Group presented its inaugural production, The Speakers, adapted by William Gaskill and Max Stafford-Clark from a book by Heathcote Williams. Major productions which followed included Cloud Nine, Epsom Downs, Fanshen, Fen, The Great Celestial Cow, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist, and Sanctuary. The last of Joint Stock's productions, A Child in the Heart and Promised Land were offered during the 1988-1989 season.

A revenue client of the Arts Council of Great Britain since 1974, Joint Stock relied heavily on government subsidy to remain financially solvent. Its demise was imminent when, due to general economic woes and changing government policy towards the arts, the company was dropped from the client list. Because the "Joint Stock Method" required an inordinate amount of time to mount a production thus limiting the number of productions annually, and because the company presented mainly new, unproven plays, Joint Stock could not survive financially without Arts Council support. In June of 1991, the Joint Stock Theatre Group Board of Directors gave instructions that the Companies House be informed that the company had ceased to exist and should be struck from the Register of Companies