This thesis is documentation of my efforts to define my process as actor in creating the roles of Harriet and Kate in An Experiment With an Air Pump. The document includes research, character analysis, development of the roles, rehearsal journal, and an evaluation of my performance. An Experiment With an Air Pump was produced by the University of New Orleans Department of Film, Theatre, and Communication Arts. The play was performed in the Robert E. Nims Theatre of the Performing Arts Center at 7:30 pm on November 4 through 6 and November 11 through 13, and at 2:30 pm on November 14. The play was also submitted as the University of New Orleans entry in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. It was performed at the Louisiana State Theatre Festival on November 17 at 1 p.m.

This dissertation, submitted in article format, explores how the physical movement theories of Anne Bogart's Viewpoints may lead to a liberatory setting, one which echoes the theories of Paolo Freire, for college theatre students. It examines whether Viewpoints is effective in creating a studio classroom culture and whether the Viewpoints exercises can lead to a heightened clarity in individual performance, with a much more satisfying and involved learning experience for students of the theatrical arts. In addition, this dissertation applies the theory of Mead's symbolic interactionism to the discoveries that students make while using Viewpoints exercises. Research methods include autoethnography, analysis of case studies, and examination of interview data from three college directors and thirteen student actors who have trained and used Viewpoints in rehearsal.