Collection Guide
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Inventory of the Joint Stock Theatre Group Archives, 1973-1991
D-035
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Title: Joint Stock Theatre Group Archives,
Date (inclusive): 1973-1991
Collection number: D-035
Creator:
Joint Stock Theatre Group
Extent:
26.6 linear feet
Repository:
University of California, Davis. General Library. Dept. of Special Collections.
100 North West Quad
Davis, California, 95616-5292
Abstract: 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. The Archives contain
business correspondence, financial records, legal documents, photographs, production files, promotional materials, and scripts
(published and original prompt copies) of several plays.
Physical location: Researchers should contact Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17 of the U.S. Code. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
[Identification of item], Joint Stock Theatre Group Archives, D-035, Department of Special Collections, University of California
Library, Davis, California.
Acquired in 1992 from the company's executor, Carl Proctor.
Arranged and described by Levi Damon Phillips in October 1993. EAD finding aid created by Sara Gunasekara in March 2004.
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
Scope and Content of Collection
Organized into eight series: 1. Financial Records, 2. Photographs, 3. Production Files, 4. Scripts, 5. Clippings, 6. Promotional
Materials, 7. Company Business, 8. Sound recordings.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Joint Stock Theatre Group
Gaskill, William
Hare, David, 1947-
Stafford-Clark, Max
Experimental theater--Great Britain
English drama--20th century