Stage combat is a special technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet productions. Today we will explore the different kinds of stage combat swords, and some other weapons that can be used.
In modern times, the term ‘Stage Combat’ has widened to also include the choreography of filmed fighting sequences, as opposed to the earlier live performances on stage. It is a unique and highly technical field of expertise, with many actors and stuntmen trying to improve and excel in their craft.
History of Stage Combat
Stylized stage combat has been a staple feature of traditional performing arts for centuries, such as in Japanese Kabuki theater, Chinese Beijing Opera, and Indian theater.
During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Fencing masters in Europe started experimenting with historical fencing techniques and using weapons such as the two-handed sword, rapier, and smallsword, and to teach actors their use. The most notable ones were George Dubois, a Parisian martial artist and director who created performance fighting styles based on the combat pattern of gladiators, as well as Renaissance rapier and dagger fencing. Egerton Castle and Captain Alfred Hutton of London were also involved both in reviving antique fencing systems and in teaching these styles to theater performers.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, scenes of swordplay became common in theatrical productions throughout Europe and the United States, and were typically created by combining a few widely known generic routines known as “standard combats”.
With the rise of cinema, the use of stage combat in films also began to become popular, coming to a height in Bruce Lee’s and Sonny Chiba’s films during the 1960s.
By the mid-1960s, John Waller, fight director for stage and screen began to teach stage combat at London drama schools, with an emphasis on historical realism. Informal guilds of fight choreographers began to take shape in the 1970s with the establishment of The Society of British Fight Directors, and later in the US with the formation of the Society of American Fight Directors in 1977.
J. Allen Suddeth founded the National Fight Directors Training Program in the United States and wrote the book “Fight Direction for the Theater“. Following this, further academies and associations have been established around the world, with a mission to improve training, quality of work, and safety in the art-form of stage combat.
Stage Combat Swords
Here are the different kinds of swords used in stage combat.
Broadsword in Stage Combat
Broadsword, also referred to sometimes as a basket-hilted sword, is a sword type of the early modern era characterized by a basket-shaped guard that protects the hand. It was generally used as a military sword, in contrast with the rapier, the slim dueling sword used by civilians during the same period.
The broadsword was notable for its large hilt which allowed it to be wielded with both hands due to its size and weight and was used for slashing rather than stabbing. this weapon is used in plays set in this period like Shakespeare’s Macbeth and can also be seen in modern fantasy films like Lord of the Rings.
Rapier in Stage Combat
A rapier is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use (for dueling and self-defense) and as a military sidearm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. The rapier has the advantage of the thrust over the slash which means it could be a much smaller and lighter weapon than the broadsword.
Rapier in Stage Combat is popular in Shakespeare plays where duels are performed, for example, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.
Smallsword in Stage Combat
The smallsword (sometimes referred to as court sword) is a light one-handed sword designed for thrusting which evolved out of the longer and heavier rapier of the late Renaissance. The sword came into fashion in England and France in the late seventeenth century, when any man, civilian or military, with pretensions to gentlemanly status would have worn a small sword on a daily basis.
The blade of a small sword is comparatively short at around 0.6 to 0.85 meters, and that is why it was used mostly as a thrusting weapon, meaning word movements were kept minimal to find the opening that a thrust could land. Most men of the period carried smallswords as fashion accessories so most were elegantly ornamented. An example of a smallsword duel can be seen in the play Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton.
Other Weapons
Other weapons like a katana, a Japanese-style sword that is curved on one side, and nunchucks can also be used on stage. However, using these weapons in stage combat requires the study of the Japanese martial arts style. Stage combat versions of nunchucks that are made of foam instead of wood are usually used, thereby reducing the danger to the actors.
Knives are also used in stage combat and films, with fights usually tend to include quicker sharp movements. An example of this can be seen in West Side Story’s fight between Riff and Bernardo. Often in plays, however, the scene is based on an actor with a knife that is fighting another who is unarmed, like in Act I of Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen, written in 1875.
In some cases, stage combat swords are used alongside shields, which are usually round and strong enough to be used as both a defensive and offensive weapon. Sword and shields can be found in battle scenes like in Shakespeare’s Wars of the Roses historical plays (Henry VI, Henry VI, Henry VI, and Richard III).
More Techniques
The choreography of stage sword combats can vary from true realism to outright fantasy, depending on the requirements of the particular play or film. The main reason that makes a fight less realistic is the need to make it visible and coherent for the audience, a constraint that usually makes it slower and less rigid than “real-life” combat.
One school of fight choreography argue that in live stage combat, such as in a play, it is expected that the audience will react negatively to even simulated violence if there is a fear that the actors can be really harmed – and in some way stop thinking about the character and instead worry about the performer.
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