About
the Book:
The Viewpoints is a training technique developed by
renowned American director Anne Bogart. For over 20 years it
has ignited the imaginations of choreographers, actors, directors,
designers, dramaturges and writers; it is taught all over the world
and used by countless theatre artists in the rehearsal process.
The Viewpoints are a set of names given to certain
principles of movement through Time and Space – they constitute a
language for talking about what happens on stage. The Viewpoints
Book distills the history, terminology and philosophy of
the Viewpoints
training methodology, and provides a step-by-step recipe for
using it as a training and rehearsal technique.
The Viewpoints is a technique of improvisation that grew
out of the postmodern dance world. It was first articulated by New
York choreographer Mary Overlie, who broke down the two
dominant issues performers deal with – Space and Time – into six
categories. Since that time, directors Anne Bogart and Tina
Landau have refined her notions and adapted them for actors,
establishing nine Viewpoints, grouped under the general
heading of Time (tempo, duration, kinesthetic response, repetition)
and Space (shape, gesture, architecture, spatial relationship, floor
pattern).
The Viewpoints focus on reawakening the actor's instincts
through impulse work and play, and explores the basic elements of
performance – the body in Time and Space – so the artist can
learn to use them spontaneously and intuitively when performing to
generate bold, theatrical work. Coupling this with Composition,
which is the practice of selecting and arranging the separate
components of theatrical language into a cohesive work of art,
provides theatre artists with an important new tool for creating and
understanding their art form.
This is the first-ever book documenting its theory and
application, and is an important and practical tool to enable theatre
artists to utilize Viewpoints in their process of creation.
Primarily intended for the many theatre artists who, in the last
several years, have become intrigued with Viewpoints yet have
had no single source to refer to in their investigations. The
Viewpoints Book can also be used by anyone with a general
interest in collaboration and the creative process, whether in art,
business or daily life.
"Viewpoints is timeless – a system belonging to the
natural principles of movement, time and space," write the
authors in chapter two. They continued, "We have simply
articulated a set of names for things that already exist, things that
we do naturally and have always done. Viewpoints is a
philosophy translated into a technique for training performers,
building ensemble and creating movement for the stage."
What people say:
"Anne and Tina's words make
'Viewpoints' and 'Composition' clear and do-able. I look forward to
seeing the results and impact when this book makes its way across the
American theater scene. Outstanding!" — Cherry Jones,
Tony Award-winning actress
"In bringing 'Viewpoints' to
Steppenwolf, Tina has clearly introduced the company to a new and
exciting vocabulary. I love the work this has produced on our stage,
as well as with the students in our school. 'Viewpoints' training has
been a great benefit to the work being done at Steppenwolf."
— Gary Sinise, actor and Steppenwolf Theatre Company
co-founder
About the Authors:
Anne Bogart is a New York theatre director and Artistic
Director of Saratoga International Theatre Institute (SITI). The SITI
Company, which she formed in 1992 with Japanese director Tadashi
Suzuki, uses two types of actor training developed by its founders:
the Suzuki Actor Training Method, which focuses on concentration and
breath control, and Bogart's Viewpoints, which deals with tempo,
gesture and spatial relationships. She is a recipient of two OBIE
awards and a Bessie Award. She is a professor at Columbia University,
where she runs the Graduate Directing Program.
Tina Landau is a writer, director, teacher and a member of
Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
