Viewpoints: Liberatory Ensemble and Character

DOI: 10.5176/2382-5650_CCS15.14

Authors: Dr. Christopher Layton Clark

Abstract:

This paper is about the merging of art, character, and self in the college theatrical rehearsal. The physical movement theories of Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints have shown that improvisation, movement study, and ensemble exercises can play a vital role in creating a liberatory studio rehearsal environment, in which professional actors collaborate, create, and express ideas, and where they come to understand both who they are as individuals, what they can become as a character, and what they can do as a team. But is Viewpoints as effective for college students? This paper explores the experience of professors and their students who participate in Viewpoints workshops over the course of production rehearsals. To what extent are the rehearsal processes liberatory? Can Viewpoints offer these students a stronger sense of group, as well as a heightened clarity in individual performance, with a much more satisfying and involved learning experience in the theatrical arts?

Keywords: Viewpoints Liberatory pedagogy College Theatre