REN 560 : STAGE COMBAT PERFORMANCE ESSENTIALS

The main purpose of violence in theatre is to share the story of characters with powerful and desperate needs whose actions have great impact on others and their own situations. This course will train students, using exercises and choreography, to create illusionary acts of violence for the stage. Students use multiple weapon types, including unarmed, knife, single rapier, and broadsword to explore the skills needed when performing theatrical violence. Skills include: partnering, physical awareness with precision, manipulation of energy and force, blending of tempos and portraying pain reactions, with special focus on safety of performers and building an effective story in which the violence appears realistic. Actors must be in good physical condition and maintain a healthy awareness of their scene partner in order to safely commit to the physically dynamic give-and-take of stage violence. Students are expected to run, jump, crawl and make physical contact in numerous exercises and choreographed scenes. Elective. Offered annually in fall terms.