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Question: On-stage violence! Are there directos who expect their actors to go all the way!?
I will be directing a play for the first time!. There are some physically violent scenes (e!.g!. people beating each other)!. I believe the scenes could be choreographed and controlled but one of the people assisting me in this play insists that the scenes should be real and actors should learn to endure possible pain!. I don't believe this is true!. I thing a good choreographed scene could be made to look just as real as the real deal!. I would appreciate the opinion of anyone who is involved in film or theater and knows about staging violence!. If you have a name of a famous director who actually wants his or her actors to use real force and real violence for such scenes please give it to me!. I want to study them and find out why they feel the need to do so!. Thank you for taking the time to answer this question!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
You are right and the person assisting you is dead wrong!. No good director wants the actors to get hurt!. The more violent the action looks to the audience, the safer it should be for the people on stage!. If possible, you should recruit an experienced fight choreographer to help you stage the violent scenes!. And you should appoint a reliable fight captain -- ideally some cast member who is not involved in the violent scenes -- to conduct fight rehearsals!. Once the fights have been choreographed, they should be rehearsed every day before the main rehearsal starts!. And there should be a special "fight call" (fight rehearsal ) before every performance!. At every fight call, the actors should run through the violent action first in slow motion, then at performance speed!. Stage violence, even if it's just one slap across the face, should be the most thoroughly rehearsed part of the play!.
I'm a professional actor, and I've served as fight captain for a number of shows, some involving bare-handed combat, some involving weapons!. I cannot stress enough enough how important it is to keep stage combat safe for the actors!. Encouraging them to hurt each other for real is not only thoroughly unprofessional, it's morally wrong!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
in my opinion, do it all in slow motion, and if needed, alter some dialoge to be more verbal assault and have someone get punched in the face once!. let it all be staged so no one gets hurt!.
good luckWww@QuestionHome@Com
the point of choreographing violence is to make it look real!. There's no need to actually hurt anyone if you can teach your actors to stage fight!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Your question is very troubling!. The person who posted before me is absolutely correct! I have had a few years of "stage combat" or fight training experience and no director worth their salt would ever ask you to make it real!. That is how people get hurt or worse! If they will not hire a proper fight choreographer (one who is trained and certified) then I would refuse the role!. I have heard horrible stories from people who participated in shows where they tried to use real violence and people have lost their hearing (slap to the ear) and the worst one was an actor got stabbed in the chest when someone insisted they use a real (though unbladed) knife for contact !.!.!. This is unacceptable!.!.!.!. You can go to the site link I have provided for more information, but the gentleman that posted before me is absolutely spot on!. If they still insist, I would walk away!. I am an absolute professional and have performed when I have had a fever of 103*, but this is not something you should risk your safety for!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Class!.!.!. has pretty much covered it!. I will only add two things: IF you take the so-called realistic path, and one or more actors is injured, guess who's gonna be in the hot seat!? NOT your buddy who thinks it's a good idea to have 'realistic fighting'!.
2) lighting can add much to the effect, as can sound!. A play I watched had most of the cast re-enact a violent scene with deliberately slo-mo fighting, which had reds and blues lighting going on PLUS a strobe, which really made the difference!. And in theatre, nine times out of ten, it's the SUGGESTION of violence which makes the point, rather than the actual, just as in movies, what happens out of frame can suggest something far more frightening than what the screen portrays!.
At the very least, if you allow fisticuffs on stage for real, NO ONE will want to work with you again!. Guaranteed!.Www@QuestionHome@Com