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Hannah Mount
Frank Ventura
THA 200 02
6 December 2015
#StoryTheatreProject2015
Assignment, Creation. Google search. Four words that I overused in the past
month and a half whenever I tried to explain what the Story Theatre Project was. But now
that I think about it, it was so much more than that basic prompt. My cohorts and I built
an ensemble, we learned the principles of movement through time and space, and we
gained a unique awareness when onstage. To pare that down a little, we learned about
Viewpoints as defined by Anne Bogart and Tina Landau. Learning about Viewpoints
created an awareness in myself that I never had before and allowed me to create and
connect with my fellow actors on a whole new level.
The first piece to the puzzle that is Viewpoints is soft focus. In class, prior to the
start of our rehearsal process, soft focus was an integral part of our warm-up. In The
Viewpoints Book, Bogart and Landau define soft focus as the physical state in which we
allow the eyes to soften and relax so that, rather than looking at one or two things in
sharp focus, they can now take in many(31). Using soft focus right at the start of every
class opened up my awareness straightaway (not only on a visual level but an auditory
one as well) so I could connect with my fellow actors no matter where they were in the
space. After integrating the idea of soft focus into my body I was able to bring it into my
work during the Story Theatre Project. Thinking specifically about the Iroquois Story of
Creation, there was a great part of that piece that relied upon all of the people involved

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being in tune with each other because we couldnt see each other all the time. The tribal
beat was the most difficult part to master because it was not timed with visual cues, it was
incumbent upon us to listen and time out certain lines so beats fell in natural places. It
was tricky at first because not all the people involved in that piece were in my class
during the rest of the semester, so I wasnt used to including them in my focus and vice
versa, but I quickly remedied that because I knew how to use my soft focus. The first
time we attempted to pair the rhythmic element with the words, we struggled, but over
time we discovered where the give and take was within the group and how to connect
without being given specific direction. Jianzi and myself did not have scripted lines in the
piece and when I spoke to people afterwards, they didnt realize that we never said
anything. I view that as a testament to how connected we were as a group; we were able
to fool the audience so they didnt notice that two of us were not vocal participants.
The next piece of the Viewpoint puzzle is the individual viewpoints themselves.
There are nine individual viewpoints: tempo, duration, kinesthetic response, repetition,
spatial relationship, topography, shape, gesture, and architecture. The best example of
translating the viewpoints from the classroom to the stage is in The Gathering. For that
piece we were split into four groups and had to move along the grid in certain patterns
(topography) varying our tempos and keeping an equidistant spatial relationship between
one another. It was a lot of elements to keep track of at first, even before we added the
cellphones, and at first I remember being overly focused to the point where my soft focus
was gone. Once I stopped trying to make everything so mathematical (meaning strategic
and rigid vs. organic and free), I found that all I had to do was open my awareness to the
space and the people in it and everything fell into place. Journey To Flight was created

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similarly in that we had specific patterns to follow but there was one element that caused
(at least me) a bit of grief, the flock. I was in the front of the flock so I was technically
the leader but at the same time I had to be completely aware of the people behind me.
There was always a thought in the back of my mind that wondered if I was just going the
opposite direction of everyone else, therefore during that piece my soft focus was on
overdrive so I could attempt to keep an eye on the girls closest to me.
Introduced at the right moment, music becomes a portal: an inspiration, a boost
and a challenge (Bogart and Landau, 95). Music was used at three points in this project:
The Gathering, Journey To Flight and Pastafarianism. For me, the most effective
moment of music paired with motion was during Journey To Flight during the
tightrope/cliff section. The music added a tension and suspense to the air that then
translated itself into my body as I went across my tightrope. By the time I got to the end
of my rope (no pun intended), I was physically exhausted from my journey. It was
astounding to me how the replication of a physical action, especially outside of its literal
context, can be just as exhausting as doing the actual action. Ive never gone across a
tightrope so my mind doesnt know what thats like, but now my body does after
imitating the physicality of that action. Also, the tightrope section was one of the few
times when I didnt use my soft focus. There were three points where I could focus: down
at my feet, straight ahead, or behind me. I was the first person to go across the rope, and
until it was mentioned in rehearsal, it never occurred to me to look behind myself and it
was a constant struggle to not stare at the ground the whole time. I also found the music
influencing some of my choices as I made my journey. There were instances where I had
to turn corners or reenter the tightrope and I didnt consciously decide when they were

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going to happen, I let the breaks and changes in music inform my body of when to move.
I love the way the music controlled my body and opened up all of these new possibilities
for me, I felt as though I was at my creative peak during this class when music was
introduced. Music does something indescribable to me and I do hope that the freedom
and inspiration I draw from music can also be found within me when the music is absent.
One of the most complex elements within this project was dialogue. In
Viewpoints, rather than hearing only what a certain word connotes, we start to address
how it sounds and how the sound itself contains information and expressivity (Bogart
and Landau 105). It was a struggle deciding what were the operative words in each line
and finding a way to communicate their importance to the audience. Specifically with the
Pastafarianism piece, there were times when the lines made no sense and it was up to
us to decide where to place emphasis so everyone could understand the message of our
great creator, FSM. Misplaced stress can change the entire meaning of a sentence and to
communicate the proper idea is of the utmost importance to those presenting the work.
Another important lesson I obtained from my work with dialogue is that it is important to
just speak the words honestly, if you believe them then the audience will too. One does
not need to comment on a statement to make it funny, Julies matter-of-fact line delivery
when it came to Pastafarian hell made that abundantly clear. In this day in age were
always looking for the next big thing, our attention is five places at once, so simplicity is
a rarity. Therefore, simplicity is more likely to catch someones focus because it is so
rare, and this is something I need to consider the next time I look at a piece of text.
The Story Theatre Project was a unique experience and I look forward to having
similar ones in the future. The work with Viewpoints has opened up a whole new realm

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of possibilities and tools that I can implement whenever I get stuck or am facing
something completely unknown. Theres a distinct kind of connection that has been
formed between all of my cohorts and myself, I dont think I shall ever know anybody as
well as I know them. Ive also noticed while walking down the street this heightened
sense of awareness will kick in occasionally and it has definitely cut down on how many
times I trip and walk into people. Variety is the spice of life and to me thats what
Viewpoints is, my one sentence/fortune cookie take away from this project. I was stuck
in some physical and mental habits and my experience with Viewpoints has broken those
barriers and I also have a path I can take through physical and mental warm-ups that will
lead me back to this wonderful and creative place I have found within me.

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Works Cited
The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition. New York:
Theatre Communications Group, 2005. Print.