Stephen Joseph: Theatre Pioneer and Provocateur

There are good reasons for theatre-makers, scholars and historians to read this fascinating study salvaging the achievements and hidden legacy of a pioneer and provocateur ... The publication is neither a dry chronicle nor a technical manual prescribing methods for advancing socially inclusive theatre. Rather, it is a lively synthesis of anecdotal incidents, opinions and events culled from interviews and publications astutely integrated with meticulous scholarship offering oblique insights into a wealth of unfamiliar cultural norms ... Moreover, the writing is that of a theatre historian with a keen dramaturgical sense of presenting his subject ... Elsam’s publication offers a fine template for South African research scholars. More crucially, for anyone committed to practices that are culturally inclusive and transformative, transposing Joseph’s ideas to the South African context offers dynamic ways of thinking about collaborative practice, the choice of stories to tell and presentation styles to adopt. -- Sarah Roberts * South African Theatre Journal, 27:3 *
Elsam has been at pains to explore even indirect traces of Joseph’s impact on theatre and theatrical practitioners and to demonstrate the effects of his work into the present century. … Elsam provides substantial information, much of it drawn from letters, about Joseph’s efforts to find support for his experimental work and about his quarrels with established theater critics such as W.A. Darlington and Kenneth Tynan. -- Verna A. Foster, Loyola University Chicago, USA * Text & Presentation *
In this well-researched study, the author strives to offer ‘a fresh and deep reappraisal of Joseph’s work, and a thorough re-examination of his discoveries’ (x)—which he does. … [Elsam’s] book makes a powerful case as to the centrality of Stephen Joseph in British theatrical history and practice. -- Stephanie Ticker * Theatre Journal *