Fight Night

Last night was something special as far as rehearsals go. It was stage combat night. I could give you the usual stuff about no one gets hurt and how that it is a carefully choreographed dance of controlled violence, but lets face it when it is done well it is hard to tell whether it is real or fake. And just for the sake of saying it please do not try anything you see at Rorschach at home.

Last night we were visited by Chris Neibling, a very skilled fight man. He and the director then proceeded to block what I can only call the mother of all Shakespearean Battle Royales, which brings to a close our retelling of Taming of the Shrew. Please take note to the left where Austin Bragg (Petruchio) is getting the tar beat out of him by Andrew Jessop (Katherine).

I remember my first show at Rorschach, God of Vengeance, we were so close to the audience that anything but a real slap would have been weak, so every show for a month I got to slap the hell out of my friend John Cohn. Rorschach has in the past had some killer brawls. From the slapstick antics of Ubu Roi, to the tribal hunt of Hugh T. Owen which brought Lord of the Flies to a close and even the ritual sacrifice of Mark Sullivan in Master and Margarita, great stage combat has been the hallmark of many a Rorschach Show. Thanks to fight choreographers like Chris Neibling and Grady Weatherford we have been having amazingly dangerous looking fights, and have always been aware of the safety of our actors and audience. I have seen nearly all of the fights in Rorschach History folks and I think we have ourselves a winner, with this one.