A Brief Background

Anne Bogart was born September 25, 1951 in Rhode Island. She began getting interested in theatre when she was a teenager and started to work backstage with the crew. In 1974, she earned her B.A. and Master of Arts degrees from New York University's Tisch School of Arts. One of Bogart's biggest accomplishments include founding the Saratoga International Theatre Institute. One of her major influences is theatre director Tadashi Suzuki who founded the Suzuki Company of Toga. Together both Suzuki and Bogart established a method of acting called the Suzuki Method of Actor Training and implemented the style into their training. Bogart is also accredited to writing The Viewpoints with Tina Landau which is considered a "practical guide" for training performers, building an ensemble, and creating movement. This book goes into depth of certain acting and improvisational techniques that rely primarily on movement and gesture. The major viewpoints consist of Space, Body, and Time. Bogart has been awarded two Obie Awards for Best Director and was given the Bessie Award for her work with in directing Rodger and Hammersteins' South Pacific. She is married to Rena Fogel and lives her life running the Graduate Directing Program at Columbia University.

Her Philosophy

"You cannot create results. You can only create conditions in which something might happen." -Anne Bogart

An Analysis of Anne Bogart's "A Director Prepares"

Anne Bogart is also known for work, "A Director Prepares." Written in 2001, the book consists of seven essays exploring art and the theatrical world. Bogart defines each of these areas as the potential and fundamental obstacles in art-making, fundamental in the acting process. In her work she states that, "Art is violent. To be decisive is violent. ...To place a chair at a partial angle on stage destroys every other possible choice, every other option."

Each of her essays are built on the obstacles including:

1.    Violence

2.    Memory

3.    Terror

4.    Eroticism

5.    Stereotype

6.    Embarrassment

7.    Resistance

In reading Bogart's work, I chose to examine the sixth essay, “Embarrassment.” Bogart begins talking about a creative leap to access hidden potential and that you must “leap into the void.” However there are no guarantees on if the leap was correct which could lead into embarrassment. She then states, “If your work doesn’t sufficiently embarrass you, then very likely no one will be touched by it.” It is important to understand that embarrassment does not hinder us, but is a teacher that actors need to utilize. She states that good actors will risk embarrassment and expose themselves in order to avoid natural human tendency.

Bogart, Anne. "Embarrassment." A Director Prepares. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York: Routledge, 2001. 168. Print.

Historical Context: Time/Culture/Gender

Bogart's avant-garde training methods speak to the modern period as the SITI Company was created in 1992. Being fairly new, Bogart utilizes Japanese culture from Suzuki movement. The purpose of this method is to uncover the actor's innate expressive abilities. Bogart also implements American culture from her improvisational acting techniques, better known as The Viewpoints. Both styles rely on Stanislavski based training although the methods are continually being explored and revitalized. Although she doesn't primarily address gender and race in her works, she states that being women she deals with more self doubt in her position.

Fun Facts

• In 2004, Anne Bogart was featured on the acclaimed television show "Women in Theatre" where she discussed how performance studies continue to impact her work.
• Bogart received an Honorary Doctorate from Skidmore College in 2001.
• Bogart was born into a Navy Family that traveled frequently. The longest home she had lived in was Japan for 2.5 years.

Opinion

I find Anne Bogart's avant-garde directing style to be extremely interesting. When implementing her acting methods from A Director Prepares, she works with her actors by finding where they are most vulnerable, then unlocking their hidden potential. This inevitably makes her actors stronger and helps the actor grow as a performer. She states that one must "leap into the void" which I find to be fascinating. Bogart's SITI Company is unlike any other form of training, as it mixes The Suzuki Method, which contains rigorous physical and vocal discipline, while also incorporating "Viewpoints" that articulate the specificity of time and space. To some up her artistic aesthetic, she states that, "Theatre is mostly mimetic, meaning it is embodied. If you’re watching a play, your mirror neurons are actually going wild and doing the same thing as the actors are doing, and your action as an audience is to restrain yourself from doing.” This is what sets theatre a part from other art forms, and she that her goal is to transport these stories through time.

Anne Bogart on Storytelling (Podcast)

In this podcast, Bogart talks of the dangers of stories and the effect they can have on an audience. She states that in theatre, "the audience is acting with the actors." She then goes on to say that theatre is mimetic which sets it apart from all other art forms, such as film or television.

http://trbq.org/trbq-podcast-10-stories-are-dangerous/

Critical Interpretations

Bogart is well respected by many in the performing arts community however some critics disagree with her SITI training methods. In 2012 Bogart directed The Trojan Women by Euripides, implementing her Viewpoints. The review stated that her work with the play "lacked oomph" and that her method, "emphasizes full body listening to the geometry of the stage and the energy of the other performers, SITI's actors breathe into their parts with a signature lack of adornment and heightened contentment." 

The link to the review is attached below: 

http://www.backstage.com/review/ny-theater/off-broadway/anne-bogart-trojan-women-after-euripides-brooklyn-academy-of-music-SITI-company/

"Freedom, Structure, Freedom: Anne Bogart’s Directing Philosophy"

This article provides a philosopher’s dissertation on the directing style of Anne Bogart. I chose to read part 3 of the dissertation consisting of Anne’s Viewpoint Training. The section talks of various viewpoint exercises and kinetic responses. These exercises consist of groups that construct sequences together while moving freely about the room. The dissertation then begins to talk of the viewpoints. Of the seven, this viewpoint states that the actor must create “sculptures” and thinking of what the shape should look like. It should be created through themselves. Bogart instructs, “Extend through shape. Where does it take you? Let it lead you to another shape. If it leads you to something unfamiliar, you're doing the right thing. How do you go through space with shape? Find a way to enjoy shape.” Olsenburg's dissertation commends Bogart's acting methods and direction. He states that, "She believes in giving the actor freedom to contribute in a significant way to the shaping of the production..." truly having a great appreciation for her avant-garde style.  

  

Bibliography

Abbe. Jessica. “Anne Bogart’s Journeys.” THE MIT PRESS. MIT, June 1980. Web. 7 Apr. 2015

Bogart, Anne, and Tina Landau. The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2005. Theatre Communications Group, Inc, 1 Nov. 2005. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.

Fitzgerald, Jack. "Anne Bogart's 'Trojan Women (After Euripides)' Lacks Oomph." Backstage. N.p., 29 Nov. 2012. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.

Lampe, Eelka. "From the Battle to the Gift: The Directing of Anne Bogart." A Directorial Biography 36.1 (1992): 14. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.
Mazur, Käthe, and Dany Sandford. "Anne Bogart's Women and Men: A Big Dance."The Drama Review. The MIT Press, Aug. 1983. Web. 16 Apr. 2015
Olsenburg, Dagne. "Freedom, Structure, Freedom: Anne Bogart's Direction Philosophy." A Dissertation in Fine Arts (1994): 24-36. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

Classic Clips: Anne Bogart

Anne Bogart discusses how to approach a play from a director's perspective.