Lights go up, the actor takes the space, and is perceived by the audience. Communication has begun. The Articulate Body: The Physical Training of the Actor considers the unique responsibility of the actor to convey, through his physical being, the thoughts and feelings of the theatrical event. The actor's training must provide a process through which the actor gains the physical skill, imagination, and confidence necessary to be as articulate with his body as he is with words.

This book attempts to re-think and analyse a contemporary actor's physical needs, looking at the actor's physical training not as a series of skills, but as a skill in itself, specific to the actor. Exercises are included to serve the actor, teacher, director, movement director and actor's choreographer as a point of departure in applying the principles and concepts of the book to their own work.