Anne Bogart: Viewpoints (Career Development Series)

Love the book, and the shipping was fare and fast! Very satisfied!

I hadn't intended to respond, but when I read the review below I felt I must try to explain NY reader's misconception about Anne Bogart and her attitude toward the audience. In the opening essay of this book, Bogart retells one of her first experiences with the theatre: she was fifteen years old, and she attended a production of Macbeth at the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island. She writes that she was confused and disoriented by the language and staging, but that she left the theatre with a realization that she follows to this day: "Never talk down to the audience. It was immediately clear to me that the experience of theatre was not about us understanding the meaning of the play or the significance of the staging." Instead, she was able to experience the play "directly, in a visceral and fantastic manner."So, yes... Bogart does insinuate that the audience won't understand every play she directs--but she doesn't say this contemptuously. Even now, Bogart admits that she is often confused by productions she sees, and she writes that this feeling of confronting the unexpected and confusing is essential to quality theatre. She acknowledges that not everyone in the audience will understand because not every human can understand everything; indeed, not even one human can understand everything.The opportunity to reach beyond your boundaries, to traverse places where you aren't entirely comfortable--that is one of the greatest assets of the theatre. And that devotion to the challenge of understanding characterizes every aspect of Anne Bogart's work. Bogart is an intelligent, creative, talented director--and this book is an excellent introduction to her poignant process.

This book was recommended to me by one of my friends who is a terrific actress. We'd been discussing some ideas about the theatre & she thought Anne's book might spark some new ideas. I think the largest problem with the book is that it's like trying to describe a piece of music: It can be done, but nothing is quite like the actual experience of hearing it. What I took away from the book is a commitment to the body, exemplified in Anne's question, "Where's the meat?" I can see how a thorough yielding to the rhythm & motion of a play's time and the space it inhabits can yield new interpretation. I found interesting the description of her setting South Pacific in a Vietnam era setting. I was actually sitting in one of those loooong waits for a casting call when I read, "How can you create something if you don't have anything to talk about but yourself?" [p. 126] As I sat waiting for three hours listening to numerous actors trying to impress people with how significant they were, it made me go into the audition focused on "the other" presence in the scene. I also liked her language of an "external tapestry" as the stage picture evolves in the rehearsal process. The play "Small Lives/Big Dreams" included was so unique that it required a really different way of reading the script than more traditional theatrical language. I come away from the book with only vague ideas of how Anne works, but it did give me food for thought on how I might better work as an actor and as a director. Enjoy!

Having been introduced to the concept of "Viewpoints" in a weekend directing workshop, I was eager to read more about it. After reading this book, I know less about "Viewpoints" than before I started. If you're looking for an insight into how Anne Bogart works (and she very well may be very talented - I don't know, as I've never seen one of her productions) you won't find it here. There is much discussion about "the Viewpoints" and referrences to "the Viewpoints" and even definitions of "the Viewpoints", but as far as what Anne Bogart does WITH "the Viewpoints" I have no idea. One reviewer is correct - this book is a love story, written by people who think that Anne Bogart is the Messiah of Modern, er Postmodern Theatre. If you're looking to join in the lovefest, by all means, sign up. If you're looking for insights into how to work "the Viewpoints" into your work...you'll be disappointed.