Open Forum

I'm looking for large cast plays (12+) that feature stage combat, and bonus points if it is swordplay.  We did Ken Ludwig's "Three Musketeers" and now our students are looking to continue their studies in combat.  What shows do you know that feature stage combat?

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Jessica Harms
Theatre Director
Acton MA
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She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen
Use the "adult" version and ask if you can change some of the language. Much better than the amended "Young Adventurers" version.


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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
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Co-sign John Perry. Anything created by Qui Nguyen and the Vampire Cowboys team. They're so well-known for integrating extraordinary stage combat into their work that they now have the Official Vampire Cowboys School of Stage Combat (otherwise known as The Rabid Vamps Fight Studio).

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Victoria Chatfield
Executive Director
National Theatre for Student Artists
www.nationalstudenttheatre.org
vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-11-2017 11:45
From: John Perry
Subject: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen
Use the "adult" version and ask if you can change some of the language. Much better than the amended "Young Adventurers" version.


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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
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------Original Message------

Co-sign John Perry. Anything created by Qui Nguyen and the Vampire Cowboys team. They're so well-known for integrating extraordinary stage combat into their work that they now have the Official Vampire Cowboys School of Stage Combat (otherwise known as The Rabid Vamps Fight Studio).

------------------------------
Victoria Chatfield
Executive Director
National Theatre for Student Artists
www.nationalstudenttheatre.org
vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org
------------------------------

------Original Message------

She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen
Use the "adult" version and ask if you can change some of the language. Much better than the amended "Young Adventurers" version.


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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
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CJ,

About the "ick factor" I would say that, as with all potentially sensitive subjects, it depends on how it is played. I mean after all, we are all of us adults who went back to school to hang out all day (and longer) with children. Nothing wrong with that, obviously.

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Michael Corliss
MI
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2017 13:21
From: CJ Breland
Subject: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

I disagree about the adult version of She Kills Monsters being better.  The idea of an adult coming back years later to play D & D with high school students currently has a major ick factor for me.  We loved the Young Adventurers version--but we didn't advertise it as that.  We were afraid we would attract children.

We also didn't use metal swords or rapiers for the show.  We used large swords we bought at a Halloween store, swords we made by heating PVC pipes with a heat gun and flattening them, a club with a skull affixed to the top, etc.  So much fun, and perfectly in keeping with the D & D look!

Someone mentioned The Rover.  I've never directed this English Restoration play, but my students love the scenes from it that we do in class.  Gutenberg.org has the text, which could be adapted, abridged, etc., to make it work for you.  Bonus points because Aphra Behn was the first professional female playwright!

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/21339/pg21339.txt

   

Original Message------

She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen
Use the "adult" version and ask if you can change some of the language. Much better than the amended "Young Adventurers" version.


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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
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I had so much fun adding the battle scenes to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  I also had large combat scenes in Peter Pan.  I wrote my own versions.

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Carol Gebert
teacher, director
Celina OH
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-11-2017 11:45
From: John Perry
Subject: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen
Use the "adult" version and ask if you can change some of the language. Much better than the amended "Young Adventurers" version.


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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
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Hi John,
I am curious as to why you recommend the adult version of the script "She Kills Monsters?"

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Sonja Brown, Theatre Teacher
Thespian Troupe 839
Galt High School
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-11-2017 11:45
From: John Perry
Subject: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen
Use the "adult" version and ask if you can change some of the language. Much better than the amended "Young Adventurers" version.


------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
------------------------------

Both versions of "She Kills Monsters" are strong candidates.  While I would love to do the "adult" version again, the parents and other members of my audience wouldn't handle it.

I also do combat (swords and hand-to-hand) with most Shakespeare dramas: R&J, Richard III, and Henry V have all worked out very well.  We did edited versions but kept the original Shakespeare language - not "translations" into modern text.

There's also some fun fight opportunities with Bus Stop and we did an entire opening battle melee with Antigone using wooden battle staffs (also called bo staffs).

Have fun!!!


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Josh Ruben, M. Ed.
Fine Arts Head
Northwest Whitfield HS (dba, The Northwest Theatre Co.)
Tunnel Hill, GA
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-29-2022 13:12
From: Sonja Brown
Subject: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

Hi John,
I am curious as to why you recommend the adult version of the script "She Kills Monsters?"

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Sonja Brown, Theatre Teacher
Thespian Troupe 839
Galt High School
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 12-11-2017 11:45
From: John Perry
Subject: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen
Use the "adult" version and ask if you can change some of the language. Much better than the amended "Young Adventurers" version.


------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY

You might look at a version of Robin Hood. And of course if you want to go classically there are all of the fights in R&J

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Shira Schwartz
Chandler Unified School District
Chandler AZ
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If you want to go Elizabethan, The Rover by Aphra Behn has at least two sword fights (maybe more? It's been 15 years since I was in it). It has great roles for women, and you can get into the history of the play and Aphra Behn. If this is for a performance, there may be some questionable material (one of the plot lines involves a courtesan).

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Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-11-2017 14:16
From: Shira Schwartz
Subject: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

You might look at a version of Robin Hood. And of course if you want to go classically there are all of the fights in R&J

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Shira Schwartz
Chandler Unified School District
Chandler AZ
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We did swordplay in A Midsummer Night's Dream and my son won an award for his swordplay in Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily, so those are the two that come to mind for me.

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Kristen Statt
Thunderhawk Theater Director
Lakota East High School
Liberty Twp, OH
Kristen.statt@lakotaonline.com
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We did A Play About A Dragon this fall, and it was a lot of fun.  It provided opportunities for swordplay and physical comedy.  We also got to create a dragon! We had a cast of 13 with a two actors playing two or more characters.  It was a light-hearted creative challenge for my students.  The audience also responded very positively.

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Theresa Velazquez
Spanish Teacher
Theater Director and Speech Team Coach
Duchesne High School
St Charles MO
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2017 07:26
From: Kristen Statt
Subject: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

We did swordplay in A Midsummer Night's Dream and my son won an award for his swordplay in Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily, so those are the two that come to mind for me.

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Kristen Statt
Thunderhawk Theater Director
Lakota East High School
Liberty Twp, OH
Kristen.statt@lakotaonline.com
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Robin Hood by Larry Blamire. We just produced this last month. Plenty of room for lots of actors and lots of action. Tons of fight scenes - mostly swordplay. Humorous and fast paced. It needs to be directed with attention to the tempo of the play itself. We loved it!

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Keith Burns
Theatre Arts Director
Paradise Valley AZ
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​Ken Ludwig's Treasure Island is a kick in the ass!  Lots of fun and did a ton of gender-bending.

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Tim Browning
Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School
Columbus, OH
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2017 12:17
From: Keith Burns
Subject: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

Robin Hood by Larry Blamire. We just produced this last month. Plenty of room for lots of actors and lots of action. Tons of fight scenes - mostly swordplay. Humorous and fast paced. It needs to be directed with attention to the tempo of the play itself. We loved it!

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Keith Burns
Theatre Arts Director
Paradise Valley AZ
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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), though written for (and, in my opinion, best performed by) a cast of three, is often done in high schools with much larger casts.  If I remember correctly, it has two sword fights and one hand-to-hand combat.  When I did the show, I hired a professional fight director, as I'm not trained for it and my cast had no experience with stage combat.  The really cool thing is that one of those kids took to the fighting so strongly that he is now a college theatre professor and a certified fight director, and he has even directed this show with his students!

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Jeff Grove
Theatre Teacher, Aesthetics Department Chair
Stanton College Preparatory School
Jacksonville FL
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------Original Message------

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), though written for (and, in my opinion, best performed by) a cast of three, is often done in high schools with much larger casts.  If I remember correctly, it has two sword fights and one hand-to-hand combat.  When I did the show, I hired a professional fight director, as I'm not trained for it and my cast had no experience with stage combat.  The really cool thing is that one of those kids took to the fighting so strongly that he is now a college theatre professor and a certified fight director, and he has even directed this show with his students!

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Jeff Grove
Theatre Teacher, Aesthetics Department Chair
Stanton College Preparatory School
Jacksonville FL
------------------------------

Hi there!

Having done a bit of stage combat over the years... Here are a couple titles we have done that both the actors and the audience really enjoyed. Romeo and Juliet of course, with the opening fight sequence!  We produced a version where all the sword play was staff work and hand to hand. Made for a very gritty show and the kids loved it. We just produced Hamlet this past spring with a neo-noir aesthetic so we had both firearms (This was a show done outside of the school) and fencing. It was pretty epic. We have also done The Hobbit with a large fight scene. Goblins and Dwarves fighting... you can't go wrong! lol.

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Shelly Hudson
Theatre Coach
Newport Middle High School
Newport NH
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Mary Zimmerman's Journey to the West has some great opportunities for many different styles of stage combat, including swordplay, kendo,  and hand-to-hand. It's based on one of the five great books of China. We also used puppetry and masks, so there were added skills. Lots of characters, too.

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Michael Bergman
Teacher/Director
The Potomac School
McLean, VA
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-15-2017 07:44
From: Shelly Hudson
Subject: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

Hi there!

Having done a bit of stage combat over the years... Here are a couple titles we have done that both the actors and the audience really enjoyed. Romeo and Juliet of course, with the opening fight sequence!  We produced a version where all the sword play was staff work and hand to hand. Made for a very gritty show and the kids loved it. We just produced Hamlet this past spring with a neo-noir aesthetic so we had both firearms (This was a show done outside of the school) and fencing. It was pretty epic. We have also done The Hobbit with a large fight scene. Goblins and Dwarves fighting... you can't go wrong! lol.

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Shelly Hudson
Theatre Coach
Newport Middle High School
Newport NH
------------------------------

I saw a production of Epic Proportions and they had a sword fight scene towards the end. I think there are only 4 main roles, but plenty of extras.

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Laurel Reiley
IN
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Any of Qui Nguyen shows have wonderful stage combat opportunies. Living Dead in Denmark is fantastic. Language may be a problem but lots and lots of combat.

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Laura Beeman Nugent
Theatre Teacher
Loyola College Prep Troupe 6829
Artistic Director
Shreveport Little Theatre Academy
Shreveport, LA
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-18-2017 09:16
From: Laurel Reiley
Subject: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

I saw a production of Epic Proportions and they had a sword fight scene towards the end. I think there are only 4 main roles, but plenty of extras.

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Laurel Reiley
IN
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If you're in a conservative community (so no "She Kills Monsters" and don't want to go classical, look at "Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys." It has a large cast, and there is an epic hand-to-hand fight scene.

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Michael Corliss
MI
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