Safety is the number one rule in stage combat, but it is also it’s biggest problem.
When you really think about it, making sure everything is safe is almost a fundamental flaw in stage combat.
There is no other art form, at least that I can think of, where the product is 100% antithetical to the process. A real fight is, by its very nature, not safe. The objective of a physical confrontation, the kind we choreograph on stage, is to inflict enough harm for you to ‘win’. Stage combat therefore completely paradoxical. If you can think of any other art form that is like it, please let me know.
This idea really started to take a hold of me while reading the book Shakespearean Afterlives by John O’Connor, a book that I have mentioned the past couple of weeks. Mr. O’Connor’s observes, [emphasis mine] “stage and screen sword-fighting almost inevitably has a whiff of the heroic and swashbuckling about it, not least because such a combat has to be skillfully choreographed if it is to meet the dual criteria imposed by aesthetics and safety.” (p.31) Imposing those two criteria skillfully it is extremely difficult because the skills required are completely opposite one another.
Looking specifically at stage work: A ‘Love Scene’ may turn you on a bit, or a lot - probably excites the audience just as much; a ‘Death Scene’ makes you cry - great, you’re really nailing it; a ‘Fight Scene’ well you can’t actually hurt the other person. Step in Mr./Mrs. Fight Director.
That’s what we (Fight Directors) do - we make unsafe things safe. That is completely backwards. Hence why we have a job and why it is an incredibly difficult one. Much harder than most think and why we aren’t given the due credit all the time.
I included the picture above because it is now on my wall as it spoke to me as an Actor Combatant and Fight Director. It sums up what we should strive for. Personally, I want to be the very best at portraying compelling staged violence. And compelling staged violence is not very nice at all. How much do we love when we hear an audience gasp at trick/knap/move that we have choreographed or performed? How much do we loathe when an audience is completely silent? The problem comes from our actions in making such a combat safe.
When we first start trying we are given black and white rules about safety. This is what is safe and this is what is not. As I have continued my training there are still black and white things about safety but I’ve come to realize that what is safe and what is not depends entirely on the situation and the performers. That is what’s safe for me may not be safe for you, and vice versa.
For example, when I was in college my fight partner was a Big 10 Varsity Wrestler. He was definitely one of the most gifted actor combatants that I’ve ever worked with. He and I were able to present a more compelling combat and scene because we could perform certain sections a little bit faster, hit a little bit harder, go a little bit bigger. We knew each other and what our capabilities were, and even if one time or another we went a little faster than comfy, hit a little harder then felt good, got a little too into the fight it was never unsafe. He and I obviously have athletic abilities that enabled us to perform compelling fights. Others in the class, while technically sound, didn’t push themselves in the same way we did and their fights came across as bland and too safe.
Too Safe = Bad Stage Combat.
And unfortunately we see that type of stage combat way too often. Its boring and it sucks and its painful to watch and makes theater companies think, “We paid how much for this?” We need to raise the bar.
My challenge to all reading this - Go Big, or Go Home!
We’re not living up to our own expectations. Push the boundaries what you think is safe, more than likely you can go farther. Actors, Combatants and Fight Directors all need stretch ourselves more, push the boundaries on what is comfortable much as you would be asked to do in any other scene or theater practice. In order for stage combat and fight directors to get the respect that we all deserve, the product on stage must universally be better.
Every time we stage a fight we need to be excellent. We need to be the very best at what we do. And what we do isn’t very nice.
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