Movies and television use stunt professionals to do the bulk of violent actions when they film, mainly for very sound economic reasons. Well trained stunt artists are less likely to get injured than regular actors when doing a fall or swinging from a rope. They are also far less likely to injure someone else when throwing a punch or even just grabbing someone. They are very well paid to reduce risk to the production overall and especially to the featured actors, for even a minor injury to an actor can cause a delay of several days’ filming, at a cost to the producers of tens of thousands of dollars. (A common saying for film producers is that there is nothing more expensive than a cheap stuntman.) For that same reason, stunt artists have to be replaceable. If one suffers an injury while filming, another can be plugged into his or her spot immediately.
In order to insure the highest level of safety, stunts are performed as individual units of action that can later be edited into the rest of the scene. All other action stops, the set can be specially rearranged, the stunt artists can wear special bracing and padding – in short the entire production comes to a halt until the single stunt is performed correctly. It might take a full day just to perform one sequence or even one fall, but the stunt itself is performed without any of the distractions of trying to maintain the flow of the emotional build or any other acting considerations.
Obviously in theatre we don’t have that luxury. We’re trying to tell a story and can’t have the audience step out for a cup of coffee while we set-up all of the safety equipment needed for a stunt. Worse, the same person who does the acting is also the person who has to perform the violence, so we cannot risk any injury at all. Although we may take elements of stuntwork to help shape the illusions we perform, ultimately stage combat has its own very different set of techniques than is found on a film set.
Professional stuntmen are sometimes used as stage fight choreographers, but they learn a distinct set of skills (breaking falls, contact hits) which place the actors in more danger than is ever necessary on stage. They generally they have only a limited understanding of stagework. Having a stunt artist train the actors is only one step above having untrained actors work out the fight on their own, which is fine if you don’t mind risking serious injuries. Stuntmen and untrained actors also share an enjoyment in performing contact techniques. It makes them feel manly, but of course the chance of injury is high. But there’s another reason I and all good stage combat instructors try to avoid contact techniques.
When the receiver of, let’s say, a slap to the face takes the hit, the pain he feels is his own, not the character’s. So he can’t help but take a fraction of a second to step out of character, evaluate the possible damage, and then find his way back into the life of the play. The slapper as well wonders how strong her slap was, how much damage he may have caused. In other words, both actors stop acting, and whenever they stop acting and drop out of character they fail to tell the story. So ultimately all contact techniques become a self-indulgent violation of the trust the audience gives us which allows them to suspend disbelief and accept the reality of the play.
Lastly, film stunt work is also designed for a very different audience perspective than stage combat. A camera is essentially a one-eyed viewer with no depth perception. By carefully choosing the angle of the lens, a punch can appear to land even when it misses by several inches, and editing allows the filmmaker to hide the mechanics of the illusion. The audience in a theatre, however, is spread across a wide sweep of seats and elevations. What appears convincing from one angle must also appear convincing from dozens of others simultaneously. For that reason stage combat techniques rely on distance, alignment, and clear reactions rather than camera tricks.
Which is why stage combat can never be an adaptation of stunt work but a distinct theatrical craft. The techniques used on stage are designed – not to absorb impact – but to create the illusion of impact while allowing the actors to remain fully present in the life of the scene. Safety and storytelling must always take precedence over realism.