Strike One, Strike Two...

Most shows today require some sort of fight choreography. Sometimes a fight sequence is extensive (especially if you are needing swordplay, a fistfight, or anything involving knives), while other times it is relatively minor. Take Me Out contains one very brief sequence that would qualify as fight choreography. To help the actors and director, we brought in Stacey Oristano, who is a certified fight instructor, to take a look at the sequence to gauge safety and believability.

Stacey writes: "I received my Stage Combat License while in College in London. I am certified by the BADC (British Academy of Dramatic Combat.) Some people who choreograph in America are certified by the IFDG, but besides some basic language barriers, the principals are the same no matter where you are. In a stage fight the person who drives the action, and has the most control, is actually the person getting hurt, or taking the blow (punch, kick, slap…). Of course this means that the control can change indefinitely in the course of any fight.

The number one rule is safety, first of your partner and then of yourself. It is the actors job to protect each other and keep the action at a safe rhythm that will be set in the rehearsal process. We, as choreographers, are taught in school that a fight should not look completely real. We have to stay true to the story, but at the same time the audience should never REALLY fear for actors on stage. They may fear for the CHARACTER, but never for the actor himself. So if a true fight is at 100% a stage fight will lay somewhere between 75 and 80%.

What you see in the picture (at left) is just a minor scrapple between two ball players. Darren (played by Butch) grabs Shane (played by Clay) and they struggle for a bit. Clay really drives this sequence since the action is happening to him. He actually wraps Butch’s arms around himself, but has to make it seem that Butch is the aggressor. And Butch, while letting Clay grab his arms, has to act as though the action is physically his idea. A truly fantastic stage fight takes great actors who are in good physical shape. They should run the fight sequence twice before any performance, at fight call, and address any safety or staging issues they are having with the fight captain (who ideally should be someone who is trained, but not actually involved in the fight.)"