Announcement: Stephen Joseph Award 2022

17 June 2022

To mark the centenary year of Stephen Joseph’s birth and the 60th anniversary of the founding of ABTT, the Stephen Joseph Committee of the ABTT last year established a new Award to commemorate the life and work of this maverick theatrical genius. Following the success of the competition in 2021, we are delighted to announce that the Award will again be offered in 2022 as an ongoing tribute to Stephen’s contribution to our theatre culture.

Stephen Joseph was one of the most influential theatre practitioners of the last century. He was a founding father of ABTT and the Society of Theatre Consultants. He promoted new writing, architectural standards and technical excellence. His pioneering work has given rise to the myriad forms of theatre and open staging that are commonly used today. At the heart of his practice was the close and fundamental relationship between performer and audience. Above all, he established theatre in the round as a legitimate form of theatre in the U.K.

This award was created to honour Stephen’s wide-ranging legacy, which still informs many aspects of our theatre practice, and thereby to recognise inclusive theatre excellence in the present.

The Award will be officially launched on Monday 4th July, when full details of how and when to submit will be available on the ABTT website – https://www.abtt.org.uk/news/