Kyle Rowling of the Sydney Stage Combat School has worked as fight director for stage and screen for over 15 years, applying his brutal touches to Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy and the two most recent episodes of Star Wars. In a recent interview, he gave some tips for actors who want to learn more about stage combat.
…We do have one contact technique for the face-slap that can only be done from a short wind-up – but if you can get away without making contact, it’s much better.
…I love bringing historical accuracy to performance, but I also love the fantasy – in my career I’ve done everything from training Eric Bana with period Greek shield and sword for Troy, through to doing all the lightsaber fights for the last two Star Wars films.
…With Women Of Troy, we’re working on a thrust stage – you have the audience all around you, which is like the audience being behind the magician’s table.?… In Episode III, the first fight between Anakin, Obi-Wan and Count Dooku, we shot four 14.5-hour days to get it right – but once it was done, it was done – you never had to do it again. With stage, you only get one chance to get it right every night, and it could be at the end of three hours of Shakespeare that you then have to draw your sword, exhausted, and keep it safe and keep it believable.
While we’re on the subject, I heard recently that in this year’s Bell Shakespeare production of Hamlet, Brendan Cowell’s sword snapped, hit him in the face and landed in the front row… Is this sort of thing rare??… If an actor does something wrong, or loses their focus and concentration for one second and comes in too hard on a hit, that can very well break a stage play.?
…It doesn’t work in a real situation at all: your partner falls down, you swing a fist six inches in front of their face and slap your chest to make a sound.