Over the past decades there has been a resurgence of interest in Chekhov's acting technique. The original publishers of his fundamental text, To the Actor, removed most of the author's references to Rudolf Steiner, but recent studies acknowledge Chekhov's personal interest in anthroposophy as the source of his artistic inspiration. Dawn Langman explores the fundamentals of Chekhov's psycho-physical technique and the metaphysical principles on which it is based. She examines this technique in relation to the specific challenges and gifts provided by the actor's constitution of body, soul and spirit, and in the context of the canon of great poetic and dramatic texts - illuminated by Steiner's insights into humanity's evolving consciousness. The Art of Acting lays the foundation for the second and third books in her series, in which Langman explores Rudolf Steiner's art of speech and its integration with Michael Chekhov's methodology. Together, these books offer a contemporary, spiritually-enlivened path of development for the actor, in which the combined insights of Steiner and Chekhov lead to new possibilities for the performing arts.

Building on the metahistorical exploration of drama that was the subject of Tongues of Flame, Dawn Langman explores the practical pathways through which the art of acting can evolve beyond the 'body and soul' paradigm still broadly accepted in contemporary culture. Through the integration of Rudolf Steiner's research in the arts of speech and eurythmy, and together with Michael Chekhov's acting techniques, Langman raises the spiritual dimension of the human being from that vague sensing which many actors intuit - but which has, however, little bearing on their practice - into a precise methodology. In this second volume in her series on 'The Actor of the Future', she offers performance artists a clear pathway ahead, enabling them to develop their work out of spiritual insight and consciousness. 'Dawn Langman's research into character creation invites the future into the present: suggesting the intriguing connection between the evolving universe, human consciousness and the mysteries at work in relationships and destiny.' - Penelope Snowdon-Lait, Co-director, Spirit of the Word training, New Zealand

In this third volume in The Actor of the Future series, Dawn Langman continues to explore the integration of Steiner's research into speech, drama and eurythmy with Michael Chekhov's acting methodology. Her advanced applications of all the basic processes allow the art of the actor and speaker to evolve beyond the 'soul and body' paradigm - still broadly accepted in contemporary culture - to include dimensions of the spirit. The book contains a seminal analysis of comedy and tragedy, showing how an understanding of their esoteric roots - sprung from the Eleusis mysteries of ancient Greece - deepen our appreciation and our ability to implement the practical suggestions made by Steiner and Chekhov to differentiate the fundamental styles. A comprehensive exploration of the vowels in relation to planetary beings lays the foundation for many layers of artistic deepening and application.

Building on her fundamental texts The Art of Acting and The Art of Speech, Dawn Langman shows how the great dramas of Western heritage illuminate the evolution of human consciousness - from the past and into the future - thus providing a context in which actors can consciously evolve their art. Having laid her foundation by exploring the Eleusis Mysteries - the seed point of Western drama - she moves to the end of the nineteenth century, when drama and performance practice prepared for its next great evolutionary leap. She explores the connection of this leap to the evolutionary threshold facing human beings at the end of what occult history calls Kali Yuga. Weaving back and forth between future, past and present - guided by the great cyclic themes of human soul and spiritual development - Langman shows how the inspiration of our greatest artists springs from a source of knowing that encompasses the high calling of the human being to mature beyond its biological inheritance, and to become a conscious co-creator with the macrocosmic powers that serve the evolution of the universe. In doing so, she clarifies the specific function drama has in our contemporary development within the spectrum of the arts.

The Art of Speech presents a dynamic path of practice leading to an experience of the Word as a living, healing and creative power. Helping to deliver Western intellectual speech from what Artaud described as 'shrivelled throats' and 'monstrous talking abstractions', Langman brings to life the spiritual realities out of which a true Art of Speech arises. Inspired by Rudolf Steiner and pioneered initially in the German language by Marie Steiner, this artform is illuminated here through the genius of the English language. Langman builds a bridge between mainstream research into the intrinsic nature of Speech, and the levels of spiritual cognition that led to Rudolf Steiner's insights. Speech and language can no longer be reduced to an arbitrary collection of abstract symbols, she asserts. This book will inspire those working with these disciplines as practitioners (both artistic and therapeutic) as well as those who wish to understand their significance in human evolution, both past and future. Following her first book The Art of Acting, this volume completes a foundation of understanding for an exploration - in the conclusion of Langman's trilogy - of an integrated art of speech and acting. Grounded in the spiritual reality of the human being, Langman presents a systematic methodology with which to explore Rudolf Steiner's Speech and Drama Course.