Theatre credits Joseph's first play,
Huck & Holden, debuted at the
Cherry Lane Theatre in January 2006. The play also had a West Coast run at the Black Dahlia Theater in
Los Angeles the following year. Joseph has stated that the story, about an Indian college student arriving in the United States, is based on his father's experiences coming to the States. Joseph's play
The Leopard and the Fox, concerning the overthrow of
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was produced Off-Off-Broadway in October to November 3, 2007, at the TBG Theatre at The Barrow Group.
Second Stage Theatre presented the world premiere of Joseph's
Animals Out of Paper which ran from July 14, 2008 (previews) to August 24, 2008, at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre.
Animals Out of Paper has been staged at
Boise Contemporary Theater (2009), at the
Ensemble Theatre in
Sydney, Australia, at
San Francisco Playhouse in 2010,
Portland, Maine (January 2011), and
Fort Worth, Texas (March 2011). In September 2014, Joseph's
Animals Out of Paper had its
Los Angeles, California premiere at
East West Players starring
C.S. Lee, Tess Lina, and
Kapil Talwalkar.
Animals out of Paper was presented in
Bangalore, India in September 2014 at Jagriti Theatre. It was produced by Jugaad Co. and received positive reviews. The production featured close to 75 pieces of origami. Joseph's Pulitzer finalist production of
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, directed by
Moisés Kaufman, debuted at the
Kirk Douglas Theatre in
Culver City, California in May, 2009. It ran at the
Mark Taper Forum in
Los Angeles from April 14 to May 30, 2010, and premiered on
Broadway at the
Richard Rodgers Theatre in March 2011, with
Robin Williams playing the titular character. In October 2013 it had its premiere in San Francisco at
San Francisco Playhouse where it was very well received in the press.
Gruesome Playground Injuries, starring
Selma Blair and Brad Fleischer, had its world premiere in October 2009 at the
Alley Theatre in
Houston, Texas. Another staging at the
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in
Washington, D.C. ran in May 2010. Its
Off-Broadway production opened January 2011 at the
Second Stage Theatre, starring
Pablo Schreiber and
Jennifer Carpenter.
The North Pool premiered at
TheatreWorks in
Silicon Valley (California) in March–April 2011. It was called a "Psychological Thriller" by TheatreWorks. The
Barrington Stage Company,
The Berkshires presented
The North Pool in July 2012. The played opened Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre in February 2013 (previews), directed by Giovanna Sardelli.
The Monster at the Door debuted at Houston's
Alley Theatre in May 2011.
The Lake Effect premiered at Chicago's
Silk Road Rising on April 23, 2013. The production received the
Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work. Its
TheatreWorks in
Silicon Valley production opened March 2015, starring Adam Poss, Nilanjana Bose and Jason Bowen. His play
Guards at the Taj premiered Off-Broadway, produced by the Atlantic Theatre Company, in June to July 2015, directed by
Amy Morton. The play was nominated for the 2016
Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Director, Amy Morton, and won for Outstanding Play; Outstanding Scenic Design, Timothy R. Mackabee; Outstanding Lighting Design, David Weiner; and Outstanding Sound Design, Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen. The play won the 2016
Obie Awards for Best New American Play and Performance (
Omar Metwally and
Arian Moayed). The play then received its West Coast premiere at the
Geffen Playhouse in October to November 2015, directed by Giovanna Sardelli and starring
Raffi Barsoumian and Ramiz Monsef (with
Naren Weiss and Danvir Singh understudying), in the
Audrey Skirball-Kenis Theater. The play was nominated for the 2017
Ovation Awards and won for Best Production of a Play (Large Theater). Also in 2015,
Mr. Wolf premiered at the
South Coast Repertory directed by David Emmes, set design Nephelie Andonyadis, lighting design
Lap Chi Chu, sound design
Cricket S. Myers, costume design Leah Piehl, and production manager was Joshua Marchesi. The show starred
John de Lancie (Mr. Wolf),
Jon Tenney (Michael), Tessa Auberjonois (Hana), Emily James (Thesera), and Kwana Martinez (Julie). In 2019, Joseph received a Wordsmith Duo commission from Playing on Air to write a short play for radio with Pulitzer Prize winner,
Doug Wright. The episode
Clean Slate was released in spring 2020 and it featured
Jeremy Shamos,
Eisa Davis,
Amy Ryan, and
Eden Marryshow with direction by
Mark Brokaw. As part of the 2019–2020 season
Steppenwolf Theatre and
Center Theatre Group commissioned a new play by Joseph:
King James which opened in Chicago in March 2022, after being delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2025, Manhattan Theatre Club produced the world premiere of Joseph's
Dakar 2000, directed by
May Adrales and starring
Mia Barron and
Abubakr Ali. His play
Archduke premiered Off-Broadway on October 23, 2025 as part of Roundabout Theater Company's 2025-26 season, directed by Tony Award winner Darko Tresnjak and featuring Jake Berne, Tony nominee Kristine Nielsen, Tony nominee Patrick Page, Adrien Rolet, and Jason Sanchez.
Film credits In December 2013, Joseph and fellow playwright
Tarell Alvin McCraney were featured in
Robert Levi's
PBS Film,
Playwright: From Page to Stage, which aired on
Independent Lens. Rajiv co-wrote the script for
Draft Day in 2014 and
Army of One in 2016. ==Awards and honors==