The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition

Excellent breakdown of the Viewpoints practice.

Any theatre maker looking for a new book to read or if you are someone looking into the art of theatre, this is a great book to get your feet wet. The great thing about Viewpoints is that it is based off of life, everyday life, in fact. Anne Bogart just gave these awarenesses a name to be applied into the art of acting, collaboration and directing. Even as a theatre practitioner myself, reading this book (many times over) it has opened my eyes to knew ways of looking at theatre and life as a whole.

I have worked with both Anne Bogart and Tina Landau and grew to appreciate their unique approach. It is good to see their way of working in print finally. The book is a great resource for all who have some appreciation for what goes into making a piece of theatre. It will especially pique the interest of those who see the physical nature of the theatre as paramount. The book outlines an way to replicate the work of these two great theatre artists in their own process. Dancers and choreographers will perhaps find a new perspective on what they do in this book.

Highly recommend

This book was highly recommended to me by a dancer friend, and I've found it to be extremely useful for dance improvisation sessions I'm leading with a group of non-dancers. The authors offers numerous exercises that groups can build on, experiment with, and use to generate skill and teamwork. If you're looking for inspiration for your own performance project or creative ideas for group activities, you will find them here.

renowned author -- well-written

I initially read this book reluctantly. It is recommended reading for the acting class I’m taking with Tom Todoroff. And it was so esoteric that it felt like it wasn’t for me, but I’m also committed to craft and being the best I can be, so I hung in there. Something happened around chapter 9 (there are 17 chapters in all)— I began to see and understand that if you employ these techniques with your cast and crew, your performances are going to be fresh and new every night, and ultimately stunningly brilliant!

As an actor I've worked with viewpoints in college and in various productions. I love it. It's such a fantastic method for ensemble building and sensory work. I've recently started directing and wanted to learn more about the method of viewpoints. This book was essential! I felt so prepared on my first day of rehearsal and as a first time practitioner of viewpoints it made me feel very secure in my teaching.

Libro muy importante como referencia para un proceso creativo escénico

This definitive book makes the Viewpoints system very easily accessible to practitioners of movement theatre. The next best thing to a physical class.

Unterrichte und lebe nach dem Buch! Ich bin hin und weg! Bin auf das Buch durch Empfehlung aufmerksam geworden und kann nur sagen DANKE! Egal ob Schauspieler, Tänzer, Choreograph oder etc. das ist ein MUST für jeden Darsteller der die Bühne und den Raum spüren und "handhaben" möchte!

This is a great book. I was inspired to buy it because of a great teaching workshop in Nice where a great teacher taught us all about the viewpoints and I was dying to get this book afterwards. It is really useful and easy to follow and i know I'll use it a lot with my drama class because the area I really need to develop is physicality and movement.

Detailed book about Viewpoints. It gives practical examples and ideas for tasks, starting points and exercises one/a group can use in rehearsals. It can be used both for dance and theatre practice.