Every time you open your mouth on stage you are trying to persuade somebody of something.
Sometimes referred to as 'the art of persuasion', rhetoric means using language to communicate your ideas and intentions to other people – and to make sure you are heard, understood and believed. This clear and concise guide explains how it works in plays, and how actors can use it to bring their performances to life on stage.
Drawing on her decades of experience working with actors on major productions, including as Head of Voice at the National Theatre, Jeannette Nelson introduces all the major rhetorical techniques and devices that playwrights use. She offers fascinating breakdowns of dialogue and speeches from across the theatrical canon – from Shakespeare and Ibsen, to Tennessee Williams, Lorraine Hansberry and Arthur Miller, right up to contemporary playwrights such as Helen Edmundson and Tanika Gupta. Each chapter also includes a series of practical exercises which combine spoken word with physical action to help you explore and understand these techniques, and harness their power in performance.
Whether you're an actor, a director or a drama teacher, Keeping It Active will empower you with a greater understanding of the ways that language underpins all dramatic works, and will give you the tools you need to unlock the text, understand characters, connect with the audience, and perform with greater confidence, focus and authenticity.
'As this excellent book outlines, rhetoric is everywhere. It's not simply in the parliament, the press conference and the court; it's in the workplace, the home and the family. There's no argument, classical or modern, in a play that isn't informed and helped by Jeannette's work' Josie Rourke, from her Foreword
'A great resource for actors and directors' Ralph Fiennes
'Jeannette Nelson's revelatory relationship to language is, quite simply, life-changing' Simon Godwin
'Jeannette taught me so much... I felt like I could persuade anybody to do anything' Sophie Okonedo
Jeannette Nelson trained as a singer and dancer at the Arts Educational School, then worked in theatre and cabaret for ten years in Britain and around the world. In her late twenties, she took a degree in English at Queen Mary, University of London, and then trained as a voice teacher at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Jeannette taught for many years at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as well as working as a voice and dialect coach in theatre, film and television. Besides the National Theatre, where she has worked since 1992, becoming Head of Voice in 2007, she has been resident voice coach at Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Sydney Theatre Company, Australia. She has also worked on many productions for other British theatre companies in London's West End and leading regional theatres.
As a voice and dialect coach in film and television, her work includes the films The Merchant of Venice (with the cast, including Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes), Kingdom of Heaven (with Orlando Bloom) and Wuthering Heights (with Juliette Binoche). Her most recent work in television includes The Hollow Crown (with the cast, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Philip Glenister, Keeley Hawes, Sally Hawkins, Sophie Okonedo and Tom Sturridge).
She is the author of The Voice Exercise Book and Keeping It Active: A Practical Guide to Rhetoric in Performance, both published by Nick Hern Books.
