Unarmed Stage Combat

Philip d'Orleans

• Publisher: Crowood
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781785007866
• Topic: Medios de comunicación y artes escénicas
• Subtopic: Arte y escenografía teatral

Stage combat is a constantly evolving craft, responsive to the growing demands of an ever changing industry and an ever more perceptive audience. Experienced fight director, teacher and examiner Philip d'Orleans shows how to respond to this challenge through innovative techniques and original choreography. Unarmed Stage Combat explores the fundamental performance principles of violence on stage, before a dedicated series of chapters focus on over forty specific unarmed combat techniques, including non-contact slaps, punches, kicks and chokes as well as controlled contact and the illusion of falling. Each technique is beautifully illustrated with step-by-step photos and detailed practical guidance through the preparation, action and reaction to the movement, as well as the key safety principles, common pitfalls and staging variables. Supported by stunning fight photos from professional productions, this indispensable handbook is equally as valuable for beginners at the start of their career or preparing for their fight performance exam as it will be for seasoned professionals seeking to refresh their knowledge.

PART I

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

The Beggars’ Opera, courtesy of The Storyhouse Chester. MARK CARLINE

1

A BRIEF THEATRICAL CONTEXT

Arguably, drama is conflict. At its heart there is no drama without confrontation, whether of ideologies, philosophies, countries, characters, or needs and desires. Inevitably, some of that discord will manifest itself physically. The need to perform these moments of violence safely and repeatedly must have led, very early on, to the development of some form of staged violence.

Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre 2019, Blenheim Palace

ANCIENT EGYPT

The earliest form of ritualized performance seems to be that of the ancient Egyptian priests. Tales of the gods, with their battles and murders, particularly the killing of Osiris by Seth, almost certainly entailed some representation of actual fights. With the priesthood being at the centre of Egyptian culture, science and medicine (Lorenzi, 2003), attracting the brightest, most enquiring minds, it seems inconceivable that somebody did not turn their intelligence towards working out how to create a performed fight, although there are no records proving this.

EUROPE TO THE RENAISSANCE

The first flourishing of theatre in Europe, as we would recognize it, occurred amongst the civilizations around the Mediterranean. In the theatre of Ancient Greece, it seems that acts of physical brutality usually occurred off-stage. Most historians believe that this was done for reasons of religion and tradition, although the reality may have had more to do with practical considerations (Sommerstein, 2010).

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Athens.

The Colosseum, Rome.

There is little information on the traditions of early Roman theatre, but later popular taste was for broad spectacle, as evidenced by the prevalence of arena games and executions. There seems to be proof that some executions were staged as dramas within which the lead characters were brutally murdered (Bellinger, 1927). Given the propensity of Roman culture towards physical cruelty, it seems unlikely they would have followed the Greek fashion, but there is no clear information regarding their approach towards staged violence (Bradford, 2019).

Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, Blenheim Palace. A temporary recreation of a sixteenth-century Bankside theatre.

Fight notes from a production of Macbeth at Shakespeare’s Globe. Prior to the advent of smartphones, this was one method for ensuring all safety notes were recorded.

Staged performances of written texts then disappear from the historical record in Europe for a millennium, until the passion and mystery plays of the Middle Ages. The next evolution of performed aggression probably occurred at this time, in scenes representing religious violence (Groves, 2007). It is not until the late Tudor age that the depiction of violence begins to bear some relation to current perceptions of aggressive reality, notably in the plays of Shakespeare. From this point until the current day, the number of fights written into plays would seem to indicate that they were, and continue to be, popular with audiences.

ACTORS AND THE SWORD

Although it is incomplete, there is documentary proof from the late Tudor era that shows that performers studied swordplay at the time, presumably partly with the intention of adapting its usage for the stage (Berry, 1991). At a time when the playing for prizes by fight masters and their acolytes was considered prime entertainment, and most members of the public would have intimate, visual knowledge of sword fighting, it seems unlikely that acting companies would have retained their audiences if their fights failed to replicate the real thing accurately. Today, the pressure of audience expectation can drive producers to ever greater heights, and there is no reason to believe that this was not the case in earlier times.

Well-known performer and clown Richard Tarlton was not only a member of the Queen’s Men, but also a fight master by accolade with the London Masters of Defence – a considerable achievement (Martinez, 1996). During this period, theatre began to adopt a form that would be more familiar to modern sensibilities, and began to flourish. One element of this success was certainly down to the spectacle achieved through a focus on violence and fights. In much the same way as an action movie excites with car chases and explosions, Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre achieved similar results with blood and blades.

The trend of performers training in swordsmanship continued through the 18th and 19th centuries. Domenico Angelo, who, infatuated with the actress Peg Woffington, accompanied her to London from Paris, established himself first as a master of equitation, then opened a school of arms in the city’s Soho area in 1763 (Aylward, 1953). While his salle d’armes was popular with the upper classes (he was fencing tutor to the Prince of Wales), it also drew actors, and continued to do so under the tenure of his son Harry. Controversially for the time, the school also accepted female students, many of whom were actresses (Aylward, 1953).

Angelo and his wife were close friends of the legendary actor David Garrick and, following the death of her husband, Garrick’s widow stayed with the Angelos for a while (Oman, 1958). Apparently, Angelo also designed sets for some of Garrick’s productions (Oman, 1958). Clearly, there were strong ties between the premiere fencing salle in the country and the London theatrical establishment. There is no record that Angelo ever took the role of fight arranger, but it is surely reasonable to suppose that, with those strong ties, he may have been actively involved in creating fights.

The auditorium of the Royal Opera House from the stage; note the height and width.

In the early 19th century, the diaries of actor-manager William Macready mention the lessons he undertook as a young performer at Angelo’s salle d’armes, studying with Henry Angelo, the second generation of the dynasty (Aylward, 1953). In the late 19th century Felix Bertrand, son of Baptiste Bertrand, founder of Salle Bertrand (and his own fencing dynasty), was another instructor who was actively involved arranging fights for London theatres (Cohen, 2002).

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ROLE OF FIGHT DIRECTOR

Fights continued to be an integral part of live entertainment through the 20th century. The development of the film industry saw their expansion into a different medium, one with greater reach and public impact. Filmmakers followed theatrical tradition, using fencing masters to train performers and choreograph fights (Thomas, 1973). The exposure movies brought led to an increased awareness of the role of the fight choreographer (Richards, 1977) and by incremental stages that role moved away from fencing coaches towards the development of professional fight directors. The wave of new writing in the mid-20th century, with its emphasis on domestic situations, helped create the need to combine in one role someone who was expert in unarmed, as well as sword, fights.

This impetus coalesced into the formation of the Society of British Fight Directors (SBFD) in 1968 and the development of the Equity Register of Fight Directors. The SBFD led directly to an American counterpart, the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD) in 1977. Their work has led to a point in theatrical history at which it is almost universally accepted that fights should be choreographed by trained professionals, who can advocate for the performer’s safety, and who understand the complexities involved in telling violent stories.

THE TRAINING ARC

So how does a performer tra...