Quality and Time...

I thought it might be worthwhile to comment on the difficulty in staging an excellent piece of violent action without time to rehearse it.

In my experience - outside of professional environments, there are a great many directors who cast roles without much regard to an actors level of experience with combat, yet they ask that the performer learn a combination or sequence for a fight in very little time and perform it with expertise, realistic aplomb, and safety.

I hereby issue this plea to directors and producers everywhere: if you desire to have any staged violence in your show, be prepared to pay for it. It may cost some actual money to produce, but aside from the monetary factor, you must be prepared to pay for it in the currency of Time.

It may seem nigh impossible in the restricted rehearsal time allotted to independent theater production to devote hours of rehearsal time to what is essentially a few seconds, or minutes of action as part of a much greater whole, but here are some excellent reasons why the time is worth it...

1. Safety. Safety, safety, safety. The more complicated the sequence is, the easier it can be for performers to make mistakes. Even the most simple single punch or slap can go wrong if it isn't rehearsed! Factor in close quarters, various weapons, or props and mistakes can and will occur. Adequate rehearsal time will help reduce or eliminate the potential of those mistakes.

2. Professionalism. Actors are simply (to take a horribly un-artistic stance for a second) walking and talking most of the time. Yet we rehearse the walking and talking stuff for hours on end. Most of us walk and talk quite a bit in our daily lives and have a resonably strong familiarity with walking and talking. Many of us do not however have a working familiarity with striking other people, or discharging weapons at them. Devote a modicum of time to allow your actors to bring as much of their craft to the combat as possible. I HATE watching actors turn into bleary eyed automatons during a fight scene.

3. Quality. Any fight director/choreographer can map out an easy sequence and your actors can perform it. The more time that is allotted to build the moment however, means more interesting combat. It's a lot like comedy. Old jokes we all know just aren't that funny. Staged combat can go from blase to compelling by keeping things original or by putting new spins on familiar moves.

4. Philosophy. The combat might last 5 seconds but remember, in many cases this is a pivotal moment in these character's lives. The character(s) have chosen or been forced into using physical action over words. The next few seconds can redefine how the audience perceives the character for the rest of the show. Don't throw away a moment like that. The world's most boring character can become mysterious or amazing, loved or hated depending on how the combat happens. Yes, much of this is defined by the script, but there could be room for flexibility. By way of example, for those Lost fans out there, think back to the scene with Ben Linus leaving the island and appearing in Tunisia. Sure, he made short work of those guys who showed up. But if he had shot them all with a concealed pistol, instead of using that concealed baton, he'd be a hell of a lot less impressive.

And... rant ended. Enjoy your weekend!