Towards a Dramaturgy of Stage Combat
This article appeared Volume 4 of the LMDA Dramaturgy Sourcebook. An earlier version appeared in The Fight Master: Journal of the Society of American Fight Directors, Fall/Winter 2008
The following assignment was included in the syllabi of stage combat courses I’ve taught at Tufts University as a way in integrating dramaturgical thought into the pedagogy of stage combat:
Dramaturgical Analysis: A 4-7 page paper on a play with a significant fight in it. You may pick a play from They Fight! or find one on your own.
First, explain how the fight or fights fit into the plot structure of the play as a whole and how character relationships are different before and after the fight and explain what character conflicts manifest in the fight. Remember that the characters affected are not limited to those who fight (for example, Juliet has a lot at stake when Romeo & Tybalt face off).
Second, if there are clues about how the fight might manifest itself in earlier parts of the script or descriptions of the fight later in the script that might influence how actors would execute them, detail those.
Third, come up with three different executions of the fight and describe how each one would change the overall arc of a production. This could be as simple as how things might be different if one character sustains an unscripted (but logical) injury that would change the actor’s portrayal of them later in the play or as complex as exchanging swords for firearms and thus changing the entire world of a play.
There will be a brief in class lecture/analysis of Romeo & Juliet that will demonstrate what is required in this assignment.
They Fight! is a book of scenes edited by Kyna Hammill and published by Smith & Kraus. Romeo & Juliet, having been the subject of a lecture, was off limits. The goals of this assignment are both scholarly and creative. Students are required to complete an in depth script analysis focusing on the motivations and repercussions of violence that in most cases includes characters beyond those in the fight. In addition, the requirement to explore different staging possibilities makes them realize the endless possibilities in interpreting a play. It is important that the students know that what is being sought here is not fight notation, but various explorations of staging options.
On the whole, this assignment has produced some of the best writing I have seen from undergraduate students. The tendency has been that they are trepidatious about the assignment as it approaches but almost all report that it is a fun paper to write. Since students are free to pick any play of their choosing, I’ve been treated to interpretations of violence that take on authors from Shakespeare to modern times. And often with surprising results.
I would add also that in one case the result of this assignment was part of a successful application to a prestigious dramaturgy internship for one student.
The best way to help students understand how stage combat fits into the structure of the play is to make them actively explore it. Not all performers fight in every play, but all participants in a play should understand dramatic structure, and all students of stage combat should be able to articulate how the elements of stage violence fit into the bigger picture.
It should also be noted that legendary fight director B.H. Barry recently published a book entitled Fights for Shakespeare, Book One: Romeo & Juliet, in which he provides an explication of the hows and whys of his compositions for several productions of Romeo & Juliet. This book stands as an excellent case study of the dramaturgy of stage combat by one of the masters of the field.
The following assignment was included in the syllabi of stage combat courses I’ve taught at Tufts University as a way in integrating dramaturgical thought into the pedagogy of stage combat:
Dramaturgical Analysis: A 4-7 page paper on a play with a significant fight in it. You may pick a play from They Fight! or find one on your own.
First, explain how the fight or fights fit into the plot structure of the play as a whole and how character relationships are different before and after the fight and explain what character conflicts manifest in the fight. Remember that the characters affected are not limited to those who fight (for example, Juliet has a lot at stake when Romeo & Tybalt face off).
Second, if there are clues about how the fight might manifest itself in earlier parts of the script or descriptions of the fight later in the script that might influence how actors would execute them, detail those.
Third, come up with three different executions of the fight and describe how each one would change the overall arc of a production. This could be as simple as how things might be different if one character sustains an unscripted (but logical) injury that would change the actor’s portrayal of them later in the play or as complex as exchanging swords for firearms and thus changing the entire world of a play.
There will be a brief in class lecture/analysis of Romeo & Juliet that will demonstrate what is required in this assignment.
They Fight! is a book of scenes edited by Kyna Hammill and published by Smith & Kraus. Romeo & Juliet, having been the subject of a lecture, was off limits. The goals of this assignment are both scholarly and creative. Students are required to complete an in depth script analysis focusing on the motivations and repercussions of violence that in most cases includes characters beyond those in the fight. In addition, the requirement to explore different staging possibilities makes them realize the endless possibilities in interpreting a play. It is important that the students know that what is being sought here is not fight notation, but various explorations of staging options.
On the whole, this assignment has produced some of the best writing I have seen from undergraduate students. The tendency has been that they are trepidatious about the assignment as it approaches but almost all report that it is a fun paper to write. Since students are free to pick any play of their choosing, I’ve been treated to interpretations of violence that take on authors from Shakespeare to modern times. And often with surprising results.
I would add also that in one case the result of this assignment was part of a successful application to a prestigious dramaturgy internship for one student.
The best way to help students understand how stage combat fits into the structure of the play is to make them actively explore it. Not all performers fight in every play, but all participants in a play should understand dramatic structure, and all students of stage combat should be able to articulate how the elements of stage violence fit into the bigger picture.
It should also be noted that legendary fight director B.H. Barry recently published a book entitled Fights for Shakespeare, Book One: Romeo & Juliet, in which he provides an explication of the hows and whys of his compositions for several productions of Romeo & Juliet. This book stands as an excellent case study of the dramaturgy of stage combat by one of the masters of the field.