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Writer's picturePatrick Barry

To Fight, Or Not To Fight?

Time to explore a little of Adlib’s stage fighting history from the perspective of Patch, an Adlib supporter since his first production playing D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers (1998).


"PLAYING WITH METAL POINTY THINGS EXPECT TO FEEL PAIN BUT PLAN TO NOT GET INJURED"


Having an interest in swords and history, no one can go too wrong by joining one of the local re-enactment groups such as the Wolfguard – they will teach you to respect weapons and fight to win whilst keeping your opponent safe. The thing about re-enactment fighting everything is made up in the spur of the moment, you are genuinely pitting your wits and physical prowess against your opponent with the intention of hitting them well enough for them to feel you've scored. The key being that you pull your blows and make contact only as much as safe to do so. However you are still using metal sticks and accidents do happen so people will get hurt from mistimed and misplaced strikes. I vividly remember one lad being taken to hospital after a knife strike wounded him on the neck. Fortunately competent first aiders are usually on hand to stop the blood!


STAGE FIGHTING V REENACTMENT

Hamlet, as performed by Noterra Theatre Productions, in 1997, was the first time I played on stage with a sword. The final fight between Hamlet and Laertes had one simple objective – Hamlet wins two bouts and the third bout is complicated by Laertes cheating and hitting Hamlet who strikes Laertes in kind. There was absolutely no choreography, we performed as reenactors and made up every thrust, parry and block in response to the other actor's presented threats and openings.


I think, to perform as we did there must have been absolute trust between the two of us. It was a real fight – fast and furious but looking back on it now I know the moves were basic, we couldn’t do anything too complex or entertaining because we hadn’t trained to strike or react beyond the basic five thrusts, cuts and parries.


Which brings me to Adlib, The same year I was performing Hamlet, they were producing Dangerous Liaisons and using proper choreography to enhance it’s fight scenes. I learnt with Adlib the importance of making a fight repeatable and safe for every performance - after-all you need your cast for the second act, not in hospital!!


BLOOD AND SWEAT

The next year, Adlib produced The Three Musketeers, and I was invited to join the cast by Fiona Boyle. Suddenly I was introduced to fight choreography… Ian Johnston, as well as playing Rochefort, was our fight choreographer and he produced copious amounts of fight sheets. Each sheet explaining the moves in short-hand detail that each participant would follow. There were the basic fives that I recognised from re-enactment but also other special moves that required extra training to perform. I was performing fight sequences I had only dreamed of trying. I loved it!


Ian Johnston, told us about BLOOD: Balance; Line; lOOk; Distance. a neat acronym for designing and implementing your fight. And sweat? well you need to rehearse and at performance energy! lots, otherwise the nerves of performing in front of an audience will get the better of you!


WHAT IS CUTTING EDGE?

Performing so many swashbuckling shows like Robin Hood and Treasure Island, the theatre company attracted a strong cohort of younger actors interested in stage fighting. Russel Moul; Tom Ferguson; and Ian Newell, amongst key others, enjoyed their swashbuckling so much they formed an Adlib subsidiary called Cutting-Edge, which throughout the 2000s regularly met and workshopped numerous fights using armed and unarmed techniques. Several of them were into martial arts and the stunts they achieved were incredible.


Adlib and Cutting-Edge complemented each other well, working to produce Robin Hood at the Robin Hill and other piratical adventures at Blackgang Chine.


RETURN OF THE MUSKETEERS

People come and go, so it was both Adlib and Cutting Edge had a long break from performing, not really getting back

together until The Return of the Musketeers in 2014. Since then the need for fight choreographers has only increased on the island and Adlib, through Cutting Edge, has helped a number of other theatre groups produce safe and exciting fights. Since 2014 key actors in perpetuating Adlib's martial skills on stage include Jason Harris; Emily Scotcher; Ed Nash and Patrick Barry.


THE SHAKESPEARE YEARS

Recently Adlib has dipped its toes into Shakespeare, performing Hamlet; Macbeth; and

Taming of the Shrew. I've been very lucky to be in Hamlet three times, once as Hamlet; another as Polonius; and recently with Adlib, the part of Laertes. As Laertes, I played opposite Emily Scotcher's Hamlet. Now this is where it might get confusing! Emily is an experienced stage fighter having worked with me on a number of fights and had previously played Laertes. Having both experienced playing the others part provided a really good insight to the finale duel, we were really able to drill into the motivations of the characters and the nuances of the text. Choreographing that fight was true team work and a physical expression of story telling that went way beyond the few simple stage directions in the script.


THE FUTURE

With every show we perform, our stage fighting skills as a company improve. Working to choreograph fights with Emily; Jason and Ed over the last few years has been a joy and I consider myself lucky at my age to be still allowed to play the action hero with these younglings. Fortunately for the fighters in Adlib, next year will see the spring present Bard in the Sand; our summer swashbuckler being Julius Caesar; and an intimate winter portrayal of Coriolanus at the Minster church in Newport.


To Fight or not to Fight? That is the question with the YES as the answer!!

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