Please find a way to schedule plenty of time for supervised fight rehearsals. Ideally, the fight choreographer should be present, but once the choreography has been established, the fight captain can supervise its continued practice. If neither is available, rehearsal should be limited to a careful review of already-established choreography, with someone designated to supervise the session and stop the work if difficulties arise. No new movements should be introduced, and any problems requiring changes to the choreography must be referred to the fight choreographer.
I know that time is always at a premium, but please don’t squeeze fight rehearsals into the general schedule as an afterthought. The actors need enough time to learn the choreography, become comfortable with their partners, and develop the confidence necessary to perform the fights without feeling rushed. A fight that has been inadequately rehearsed is not made safer by the arrival of opening night.
Dressing for fight rehearsal is a progressive affair. During the initial blocking sessions, the combatants should wear soft-soled shoes and comfortable workout clothes. The clothing should not conceal the contours of the body, since the choreographer needs to observe and correct body alignment, weight distribution, and limb position. Many potential injuries can be prevented at this early stage by identifying faulty mechanics before they become habitual. Dangling jewelry should be removed, along with anything carried in pockets that might cause injury during a fall or other physical action.
As soon as the actors have the choreography reasonably well memorized, begin introducing clothing that approximates the finished costumes. Capes, jackets, hats, gloves, skirts, and other restrictive pieces can all affect movement, balance, and the handling of weapons. Most important of all is the footwear. Costumers are sometimes reluctant to release costume pieces before dress rehearsals—indeed, the costumes may not even have been built yet—but an exception must be made for shoes. The actual performance footwear needs to be available early enough for the actors to become thoroughly accustomed to it. The safety considerations are simply too important to leave that discovery until tech week.
Layers of Rehearsal Focus
Just as one doesn’t simply memorize lines and blocking and assume that one can act, fight rehearsal involves much more than repeating a bunch of set movements. Character development, pace, dramatic build, intention, and reactions all need to be explored. Slow rehearsal is a tool for developing the technique, but the final objective is a believable theatrical illusion. Eventually, every movement must appear to arise naturally from the character’s intentions rather than from the actor’s memory of a sequence.
Having said that, none of the dramatic work means much if the actors cannot remember the choreography. Just as an actor who is struggling to remember the next line has difficulty remaining fully involved in the scene, an actor who is struggling to remember the next attack or defense cannot devote full attention to the character’s circumstances. So let’s get the memorization out of the way first.
Record it! The fight choreographer should provide a written notation of the fight, supplemented whenever possible by video. Record the choreography slowly and clearly before recording it at performance speed; complicated passages may require additional camera angles. Actors should also keep their own written notes and update them whenever the choreography changes. Video is invaluable, but it does not always reveal precisely which hand moves where, when contact occurs, or what an actor outside the frame is doing. Nor is an old recording reliable after the fight has been revised.
There should therefore be one clearly identified, current version of the choreography. The choreographer or fight captain should maintain that record, update it after every approved change, and make certain that obsolete notes and recordings are clearly marked. What you think everyone will remember today may be forgotten—or remembered quite differently—by the next rehearsal.
Our natural instinct is to memorize movements in chronological order: the first move, then the first two, then the first three, and so on. Unfortunately, this often results in actors knowing the beginning of the fight cold while becoming increasingly uncertain as the sequence progresses. I prefer to work in reverse progression. First I teach the last phrase, then the last two phrases, then the last three, gradually working backward through the fight. By the time the blocking period is over, the actors know the final phrases exceptionally well, and any remaining memorization problems are more likely to occur near the beginning than during the exciting and stressful finish.
Once the choreography has been established, there are several exercises I like to use to improve its precision and believability. These are supervised rehearsal exercises, not invitations to improvise or change the fight.
Some Useful Rehearsal Exercises
Footwork. Have the actors walk through the fight with their hands clasped behind their backs. The attacks and defenses are expressed through the eyes, shoulders, and movement of the body rather than through the arms. This helps the actors concentrate on what is often the least convincing aspect of a stage fight: the intention behind each action and the reaction it produces. The actors should still be telling the story of the fight, even when the weapons and hand movements have been removed.
Distance fighting. Have the actors stand three or four feet apart, or farther if necessary, completely outside contact range, and work through the choreography. This is an excellent way to concentrate on the partnered pantomime that makes staged violence convincing. Each actor must respond to the partner’s movements without relying on physical contact to establish the illusion. Distance, targeting, and reactions become much easier to examine when there is no possibility of an accidental collision.
For weapons fights, I add a few more exercises.
No weapons. No kidding, one of the best ways to perfect a sword fight is to leave the swords in the props cabinet. Have the actors stand much closer than normal and work through the choreography using only their hands. The attacking fingers should reach toward the intended target—the hip, shoulder, head, or wherever the attack is directed—while the defending hand deflects them just short of reaching it. With the actors’ agreement and under the choreographer’s supervision, the fingertips can lightly touch the intended target so that both performers understand its exact location. The emphasis is on precision, not speed or force. Really concentrate on the exact square inch the attack is intended to reach. By removing the weapons, the intention behind every attack and defense becomes much clearer, and the quality of the technique can improve dramatically. This is one of the best exercises I know for helping a novice begin to look like an experienced fighter.
Speed sit-down. This is almost the opposite of Footwork. Have the actors sit facing each other and work only through the hand movements of the fight, without weapons. The body and footwork have been removed from the exercise so that the actors can concentrate entirely on the sequence and coordination of the hands. Once the movements are accurate, gradually increase the tempo until they become fluid and familiar. Like a line speed-through, this is a useful way of keeping the choreography fresh. It can also be practiced without a partner as a memorization exercise, provided the actor is reviewing established movements rather than experimenting with new ones.
Dropped parries. This exercise teaches the attacker to retain control of the attack even when the partner fails to make the expected defensive movement. Use soft foam weapons, such as pool noodles, never steel swords or rigid practice weapons. Both actors must understand in advance that the defender may occasionally omit a parry. At a quick but controlled speed, the attacker practices stopping or redirecting the attack without relying upon the defensive action to protect the intended target. The purpose is to develop independent control of the attack, not to surprise or frighten the defender. This exercise should be conducted under direct supervision and kept separate from the established performance choreography.
How Fast Should the Fight Be?
The old answer is always the best. A fight can only go as fast as the audience can follow the story. All of the story. If the actors move too quickly, the audience sees only a blur of movement, with little understanding of what is happening or why. The story of the fight is told through precision, which is why the initial fight rehearsals must be conducted in painfully slow motion. Every movement should be examined carefully so that small mistakes can be corrected before they become part of muscle memory.
As rehearsals progress, the pace can gradually increase, but only as quickly as the actors can maintain correct technique and clarity of intention. Eventually, the actors may reach what they consider full speed: fast, energetic, and exciting to perform. But that is not necessarily the speed at which the fight should be presented to an audience. Performance speed is determined by how clearly the audience can follow the narrative of the fight, not by how rapidly the actors can execute the movements. The performers should also retain enough physical reserve to remain in control and continue acting the scene.
This distinction is particularly important when a fight contains a reversal, a moment of hesitation, or an unexpected attack. The audience needs enough time to recognize what has happened and understand its significance. A pause or change of rhythm can sometimes accomplish more than another flurry of blows. Speed is only one of the tools available to a choreographer, and not necessarily the most important one.
A fight that is thrilling to perform but impossible to follow is not a successful theatrical fight.
Who Is in Charge?
This can get a little complicated. The director has the final say in what the production needs from a fight, but responsibility for designing and maintaining the choreography belongs to the fight choreographer. As a general rule, no changes to the choreography should be made without the choreographer’s authorization. A fight captain or assistant may correct the execution of the established choreography, but may not independently alter it. This should be the prima facie rule, and any exceptions should be worked out between the director and choreographer in advance.
For example, if I have to be gone for the majority of rehearsals, I let the director know that if a bit isn’t working and makes the show drag, it may be cut so long as I get a text with video the next day. The same goes for certain moves that cause anxiety to an actor. Sometimes I’ll also explain which fight phrases cannot be modified in any way and which may be cut completely if rehearsal time is short or memorization becomes a problem. But that’s just me. Some choreographers may be less comfortable giving the director that much freedom, while others may allow considerably more. The main thing is to keep the choreographer in the loop when changes appear necessary. A change may introduce a hidden danger that the fight choreographer can recognize, even over the phone. What is sacrosanct is not the individual movement, but the requirement that the choreography be deliberately designed, safely executed, and changed only through an authorized process.
Once the production moves into performance, responsibility for supervising the fight passes to the stage manager. It is her call whether a fight must be cancelled because of safety concerns, including inclement weather. If a movement becomes unsafe or an actor is no longer comfortable performing it, that movement should be suspended until an approved solution can be found. Both the stage manager and the fighters themselves have the right and obligation to stop a fight, even in the midst of performing it, if they recognize a condition that might cause injury to an actor or audience member. As I’ve said before, there is no show worth an injury.
The stage manager also assumes responsibility for the practical maintenance of the fight. Just as she may give notes when an actor’s performance has drifted away from the director’s staging or intentions, she may also call out deteriorating fight work. Distance may begin to collapse, reactions may become lazy, timing may rush, the fight may become too physically harsh, or actors may begin “cheating” moves for speed or comfort. These corrections are not optional. The stage manager may insist on a return to the established choreography, but any necessary redesign must be referred to the fight choreographer. Once a fight is set, consistency is part of the safety system itself, and maintaining the integrity of the choreography becomes part of the stage manager’s responsibility.