point of view & PERFORMANCE CRITICISM 
Unmixing Our Metaphors, Media, and Methods: A Response to Phil Ruge-Jones
(1)by LEON SEAMAN Gary Yamasaki’s work on point-of-view dynamics is rooted in literary criticism, but draws on the analogy of camera angle in film to illustrate these dynamics. When I read his first book, Watching a Biblical Narrative, its title suggested the interaction between reading text and watching film or live performance. Yet it might… Read More ›
Another Take on the Crafting of a Performance of Mark 6:47-52
by PHIL RUGE-JONES I’ve been invited to chime in out of my own performance experience. I do think that the audience is supposed to empathize with the disciples in order to see themselves in the complex responses of the disciples and think about their own responses. They have been tossed about by storms; they have… Read More ›
Blocking Mark 6.47-52 for Live Solo Performance: A Response to Yamasaki and Tannehill
by LEON SEAMAN In my first two posts, I noted all-too-briefly how Gary Yamasaki’s work on point-of-view planes influenced my own work of Markan performance. I attended to some aspects, but not to others, of certain scenes, and my inattention has drawn critique from Yamasaki, joined by Robert Tannehill. To address their concerns let me… Read More ›
Further Comment on Mark 6:49-52
by ROBERT TANNEHILL I agree with Gary Yamasaki (Responding to How Seaman Would Craft a Performance of Mark 6:49-52) that it is a mistake to present the disciples in Mark 6:49-52 from an external (“objective”) perspective, because, as he pointed out, there is a cluster of inside views of the disciples in this passage. Furthermore, this… Read More ›
Responding to How Seaman Would Craft a Performance of Mark 6:49-52
by GARY YAMASAKI Over the past month, Leon Seaman has contributed two posts addressing ways in which attention to point-of-view dynamics impacts his performance of Mark. The earlier one–Perspective in Live Performance: To Embody or Not to Embody?–focuses on how he embodies certain characters–that is, mimics their speech and gestures–and does not embody others, and… Read More ›
Helping an Audience to Get the Point (of View) in Performance
by LEON SEAMAN In my last post, Perspective in Live Performance: to Embody or Not to Embody, I briefly told how perspective criticism helped me block Mark’s baptism and transfiguration scenes for performance. A simple “s/he/they saw” may be a clue to whose viewpoint is to be embodied or not. Of course, point of view… Read More ›
Perspective in Live Performance: To Embody or Not to Embody?
by LEON SEAMAN The post entitled How might ‘Live Performances’ of Biblical Passages be influenced by Awareness of Point-of-View Dynamics? raises an intriguing question, and one that could (and should) be addressed at length. I’ll offer just a couple of brief observations from my own experience in performing Mark. First, the observation that not every… Read More ›
How might “Live Performances” of Biblical Passages be influenced by Awareness of Point-of-View Dynamics?
by GARY YAMASAKI I have been a fan of live performances of biblical passages for a long time. My first such experience was about 25 years ago, and it was not actually a live performance, but rather, a video-recording of a live performance: David Rhoads as storyteller for the whole Gospel of Mark. As I… Read More ›
PERSPECTIVE CRITICISM 