Stage Combat Stage Rules Safety First o Most sacred of all rules o Very slow motions in reality stage combat is the most carefully choreographed in the entire show o Most dangerous move is a slap Good partnering o Evenly matched in both skills and strength o Work well together on stage Left handed vs right handed people Create the illusion of violence o Not real combat on stage o Looks real The Purpose of Stage Combat Stage Violence should Tell a story Have a logical physical dialogue o Giving the finger vs punching someone don t go hand in hand violence must be escalating etc Support the conflict o Develop the plot and defining the character o Re enforce and help escalate the conflict Pirates of the Carribbeann clip Multiple levels of intensity raising the stakes Painting the characters for a gradual build for violence with the dialogued and pushing characters to violent acts They pull objects from around you to create more violence Points the sword in his face hitting swords against each other throws sword towards door at him continuously talk throughout the scene to each other Stage Combat Weapons Unarmed o Hand to hand combat Broadsword Quarterstaff o Long hard stick Rapier Dagger o Huge sword ala highlander or lord of rings olden days o Long sword short sword use them together pair long sword for thrusting into opponent and the dagger works as a shield Popular form o Knights gallivanting with sword and shield olden days o Dull knife or knife that retracts so you can stab someone and it o Carefully certified with an expert and training teams never EVER point a firearm at the audience Sword and Shield Smallsword o Small sword Knife retracts Firearms The Process acting Objectives o Do the characters want a hug an apology etc What do you want Intentions Maintaining the illusion o Movements on stage provide to creating the illusion example wind up your arm to show that your going to hit somebody Sound knap voice o Knap screams that happen when you re using violence range of vocal quality lower pitch and higher pitch Reaction Vocals and Sound effects demonstrated by Chantel King and Jedediah Roe o Showing reaction to the bit of violence that happens Theatre Social Change the theatre when it is good it s always dangerous Hallie Flanagan Social Drama is theatre for social change Characteristics Individual vs society Social Ills Question of Morality o Individual against society at large or what the society thinks o Focus on question of what it is that is wrong in society o At some point main characters faced with a question of what is moral and what is not Question of what is right what is wrong o Also comes up question of morality of individual vs morality of society Social Drama MOST FAMOUS SOCIAL DRAMA Clifford Odet s came up in the 1930 s focuses on NYC cab drivers and how they cannot pay Lefty bills or support their families etc because of poor wages and nasty labor practices going on Group against society at large What is it that happens when there is an Waiting for entire group of people that cannot support themselves because society is not giving them the funds to survive Examples of Social Drama Most of the Greek theatre August Wilson The Pittsburgh Cycle Gem of the Ocean Fences Piano Lesson etc Uncle Tom s Cabin George Aiken Harriet Beecher Stowe Amiri Baraka Dutchman o African American man killed on subway train by a white woman Lorraine Hansberry Raisin in the Sun Arthur Miller Death of a Salesman o Social ills social responsibilities o attention must be paid to this man who is trying and had something The complete piece that you will see in class this week El Teatro Campesino horrible happen to him Luis Valdez s Los Vendidos Realism Setting the Stage for Realism Industrial Revolution c 1780 1830s c 1850s cause the world to shift to radically urbanization rise of factories and class system take away people s independence to monotaneous jobs office jobs rebellion happens o Steam powered ships o Railroad o Electricity o Urbanization Iconoclasts a person who attacks cherished beliefs or instituions o Marx o Freud o Darwin Communist manifesto the history to the class struggles classism is destined for failure Beginning of psychology theories of unconscious mind the ediple complex based of Sophocles Oedipus rex Huge naturalist advocated natural selection evolution understand the world All 3 question the way of the world set the stage for realism o Sociology August Comte study of sociology desire to study the kind of things that are causing problems why do people react in certain ways Realism Mid 19th Century o truth o The 4th wall o won t see actual reality on stage you see a representation of reality o Theatrical convention invisible wall in front of the stage in forms a barrier between audience and the actors on stage we look in and are snooping in on whats happening on stage Breaking the 4th wall actors cross the barrier when an actor is talking to the audience he is breaking the 4th wall o Middle Class relates to realism o Social Problems Questions o Nature vs Nurture Heredity vs Enviroment what exactly is causing actions what is sculpting personality how much is your personality based off of your environment How can you be responsible for your own actions o Long term effect on theatre o Example House M D o Real things depicted in a way that s just not a visit to the ER created in a way that its dramatic and exciting o Henrik Ibsen 1828 1906 the father of realism o A Doll House 1879 woman married to a man who does not treat her like a person treats her like a possession or a doll she steps into her own and controls her own life and decisions so she decides she cannot be married to him anymore she leaves the door slam heard around the world hear this at the end of the play as the woman walks out on her husband and family A doll s house clip woman is scuffling for the mail since she is hiding the note she left her husband so she can leave him she distracts her husband by dancing for him she is not good enough Responses to Realism Begin with Social Economic Disaster o WW1 1914 1918 the war to end all wars o Economic Depression 1920 s 1930 s both in US and Europe o WW2 1939 1945 another war to end all wars Open up questions theatre opens up to realism why are all these horrors happening How is god letting this happen Dada 1916 1919 Art is a private affair The artist produces it for himself An intelligible work is the product of a journalist Tristan Tzara o Zurich Switzerland