Speech and Drama

by Rudolf Steiner

Overview

19 lectures, Dornach, April 10, 1921 and September 5-23, 1924 (CW 282)

In this course, designed for students and professionals in the stage arts, Rudolf Steiner begins with a fundamental and spiritually-rooted appreciation of human speech and what actually takes place during human communication. Speech is a spiritual activity as well as an art form, lending itself to real interaction with both higher spiritual worlds and the human world of social conversation.

Steiner shows that speech is a powerful tool for any serious dramatist in conveying the reality of worlds, whether visible or invisible, to the individual souls in the audience.

This is an essential book for anyone involved in speech work, communication arts, and many kinds of therapies.

This volume is a translation from German of Sprachgestaltung und Dramatische Kunst (GA 282).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621510093
Publisher:	SteinerBooks
Publication date:	01/01/1986
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was born in the small
village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he
grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became
a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known
especially for his work with Goethe's scientific writings. At the
beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early
philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into
psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual
teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner
came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his
philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner's
multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in
medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf
education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic
agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama,
speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General
Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world.
He died in Dornach, Switzerland.
Marie Steiner-von Sivers (1867-1948) was born in Wlotzlawek, in Russian Poland and grew up in St. Petersburg. She trained as an actor, but left the stage when she met Theosophy through Edouard Schuré, whose works she translated. In 1900, she met Rudolf Steiner, whom she later married and worked alongside in the development of Anthroposophy. She died in Beatenberg, Switzerland.

Table of Contents

C O N T E N T S:

Foreword by Marie Steiner
Note by Translator

PART ONE: THE FORMING OF SPEECH
1. The Forming of Speech Is an Art
2. The Six Revelations of Speech
3. Speech as Formed Gesture
4. How to Attain Style in Speech and Drama
5. The Secret of the Art of the Master ...
6. Sensitive Perception for Sound and Word ...
7. Some Practical Illustrations of the Forming of Speech

PART TWO: THE MOLDING AND SCULPTING OF SPEECH
8. The Molding and sculpting of Speech
9. Style in gesture
10. The Mystery Character of Dramatic Art
11. The Relation of Gesture and Mime to the Forming of Speech
12. The Artistic Quality in Drama
13. Study of the Text from Two Aspects
14. Stage Décor: Its Stylization in Color and Light

PART THREE: THE STAGE AND THE REST OF MANKIND
15. The Esoteric Aspect of the Actor's Vocation
16. The Work of the Stage from Its More Inward Aspect
17. Further Study of the Sounds of Speech
18. The Speech Sounds as a Revelation of the Form of Man
19. The Formative Activity of the World