Stage Combat

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Learning the Basics

Stage Combat has always been something that was an interest to me and I loved watching it being done in professional plays and musicals. It was not until my masters class in stage combat that I was fully immersed in the experience of using violence onstage and how it could be used as a tool in my director’s toolbox to engage students and enhance future productions. While taking this class I learned about the vast amount of skill, technical know how and safety that went into creating authentic and realistic looking violence onstage. Working with a professional stage combat instructor I learned how to create the basics of realistic looking slaps, falls, hand to hand combat, knife and sword fighting. The class also had time for us to work through how to integrate violence into scenes from scripts we were reading or thinking about using in the future. This new knowledge and interest intrigued me and I began to think and plan how to add these elements into my theatre classes, productions, and the program as a whole.

Stage Combat: Romeo and Juliet

The fall after my course in Stage Combat I decided I wanted to help build my program and bring in more students by choosing a familiar show, but I also wanted to make sure that there was a chance for stage combat and violence to be taught to my students as a new skill. Though there were many shows to choose from I landed on the decision to do the classic Romeo and Juliet. Reaching out to my stage combat instructor I was given the name of a professional fight choreographer who (unknown to me at the time) would end up working with me and my students over the next several productions and years building and growing these talents and skills in myself and my students.

The auditions for Romeo and Juliet included some basic training in fight choreography to see how students could move and pick up the new skills. I was impressed by how many students came out to be a part of the audition process just from hearing "you get to play around with swords” or “they are teaching us how to fight on stage.” But beyond the numbers showing up for auditions and being in the show I was amazed how many of my students had natural tendencies towards stage violence and combat on stage.

Once the show was cast I worked with the fight choreographer closely bringing Shakespeare’s words to life with a focus and concept for the show leaning heavily into the violence and how the “Violent delights [of the characters] have violent ends”. Students were thrilled to be working with a theatre professional and to be receiving amazing training and insight into their movement, the feelings and emotions driving the violence, and learning the choreography of the combat on stage. The show had sword fighting, dagger/knife work, stage slaps and choking, and much more. These moments throughout the show heightened the intensity of the production and made the show feel much more engaging and real for the audience. It was amazing to see the students take on such challenges and blossom and grow and develop a real passion for stage combat.

Stage Combat and Flight: Beauty and the Beast

With the seed of knowledge and Romeo and Juliet performances behind us I wanted to continue to work with stage combat and see the students continue to grow and enhance their skills along with enhancing the theatrical experience for ourselves and the audiences. The decision was made to continue using stage combat for the musical Beauty and the Beast. There were many instances throughout the show that were open to adding cartoon like violence (Gaston and Lefou) and also realistic fighting (Wolves vs. Beast and Gaston vs. Beast, etc.). The decision was made to continue working with the same professional fight choreographer, but to also add the element of stage flight to the production and combine the two into some really spectacular moments.

Bringing in the element of flight allowed us to utilize the stage combat learned already, but to enhance it with some flight moments. Some examples of this was when the Beast and the wolves were fighting we had the Beast throw one of the wolves and they flew across the stage. Another moment at the bar we had Gaston uppercutting LeFou and he flew up in a comedic cartoon style. The other moments included the Enchantress flying, an Enchanted Rug blowing away, and the Beast flying during his transformation. Students were so excited and engaged in the teaching of stage flight and stepped up to learn how to do this amazing technical aspect of theatre in a safe and amazing way. The show was a perfect change for flight and combat elements to be combined to make the show even more magical and engaging.

Stage Combat: Frankenstein and West Side Story

After an amazing year of students learning and growing in the skills of stage combat I was excited to keep working with students to develop and hone these skills. In deciding on the next season I wanted to continue to bring in my professional fight choreographer and enhance the productions chosen even more. The students loved working with them, and it was a real pleasure to have such a talented professional working on shows with me. The decision was made to have violence and combat integrated into the fall production of Frankenstein. The cast and I worked closely with the choreographer to make sure that moments of violence were real looking and safe and added to the overall production. The violence in this production was more subtle than in other productions, but it required nuance and skill, and my students rose to the challenge and tackled it masterfully.

For the spring production I decided there was no better choice than West Side Story to integrate all the training in stage combat, dance and movement learned over the years. The show was a massive undertaking and had myself, my fight choreographer and my choreographer all working together to integrate the elements of stage combat, movement, dance, and acting/singing all together into a seamless production. The decision was made to integrate the stage combat hand and hand with the dance making the dancing seem less balletic and more gritty and violent at times. The show has so many instances of stage violence and combat that it was a perfect fit for the students who worked so hard over the past few years to grow and learn these skills. Students learned how to integrate violence into dance, knife and fist fighting, combat to music, stage slaps and falls, using a live firing gun on stage, and so much more. The show was an excellent production where I was able to see the fruits of so much time and effort being combined into a single show.

The Benefits and What I Learned

Learning about stage combat, stage flight, and violence/intimacy on stage was a real eye opening moment for me as a teacher and director. I have since continued to work and bring in choreographers to teach classes, workshops, and be part of productions where violence is key. I have seen students rise to challenges placed before them and to grow and develop passions and skills they did not know they had. I was able to see shows come to life and enhanced in ways I had not planned before stepping into the world of stage combat. I am so eager to continue to learn and grow these skills in myself and my students for years to come.

During this time my choreographer also began to train students in the ways of fight choreography, how to be fight captains, and how to run fight calls before rehearsals and performances. Students took to these leadership roles and began to run and call fight rehearsals for the entire cast. Students also began taking an interest in developing their own choreography and adding it to scene work done in classes as well as looking to become professionals in the field themselves. As of this moment I currently have two to three alumni that have gone on to continue learning and growing in stage combat and choreography, minor in the study, and work in the field.

Overall the confidence and passion inspired in my students made every moment of this experiment worth it and I will continue to look for chances to train and teach students how to use combat safely and effectively in classroom activities, workshops and future productions.