Stage Combat in Theatre

1. Stage combat is a technique of fighting used in theatres, operas, and musicals, that is used to create the illusion of physical combat without hurting the performer.

2. Stage combat includes techniques and weapons such as fake slaps, kicks, and types of fencing such as  with knives, staffs, and swords.

3. It takes an incredible amount of work to put a stage combat scene together in a performance. Extra time must be set aside in addition to normal rehearsals in order to learn the choreography.  Actors go through the moves one by one, slowly, to learn them, then are gradually sped up, and they must be rehearsed almost every rehearsal in order to retain muscle memory.
    Stage combat also requires excellent physical fitness, even when only wielding a sword or dagger.

4. Often fight choreographers will choose attacks that if used in real life, would be inefficient and slow, so that the audience may follow the action more easily. Moves are also made to be simpler and less dangerous because directors want to suspend the audiences belief the whole play. If the audience thinks the actor is in danger, they often lose focus from the plot of the story.

5.   Some of the first known fighting created for entertainment was in Rome, where gladiators would fight each other in a surrounded arena.
     In the middle ages, jousts and fencing matches would be choreographed or unchoreographed, and jousting developed into a highly competitive sport.
     It was in the 19th century that various swords, rapiers, and daggers were experimented with to develop stage combat styles to teach to actors.

6. You might have seen this famous movie sword fight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7zvffHu_wo

     If you would like to try any form of combating, private stage combat lessons, martial arts lessons, fencing, or Live Action Role Playing are all fun ways to explore combat on your own.

2 Huge Reasons Why You Should Watch More Theatre

I think film is an astounding new art medium. You're combining theatre, music, and visual aesthetics/art together to create one huge piece of art. It's wonderful.

    I think it's unfortunate though that our society is gradually losing the art of theatre, and it's becoming more mainstream to watch only films.


1.   I think one of the problems with us watching so many films is that most people don't seek out films that are made purely to be art. They find films online, or go to a big movie theatre and watch those generic action and chick flick films that the movie industry churns out.
      I myself enjoy those movies every once in a while.  
     There's some people though that only watch movies like those, and since films are always being reviewed in the media, and are distributed en masse to movie theaters, I feel like it's a lot easier to control the content of films since they know all the films that are being made and released. If the media wants to reinforce gender roles or stereotypes, they have the power to manipulate all those films that are shown everywhere into illustrating the values and ideas that the media wants us to take in.

2.    There's something special about seeing a live performance of theatre that you just don't get from watching a film. And it's not just that the light being emitted from the film can be bad for your eyes. There's really something special about being in the same room as someone who is creating live art.  Every performance turns out slightly differently, even if the actors are playing the same roles, therefore you have the opportunity of witnessing a unique performance that will never happen again.

Why Christopher Plummer is So Great

"Unless you can surround yourself with as many beautiful things as you can afford, I don't think life has very much meaning."

     Classy. Attractive. Talented. Was probably the narrator for almost every childhood television show and film you ever watched. He's also one of the best actors ever. One of his trademarks as an actor is his rich and smooth voice. If you every see any of his performances, or watch any interviews, I think anyone would notice and appreciate how articulate his is and effective at reaching his audience. Working as an actor, he strived to appeal to his audiences' emotions.

     That's Christopher Plummer. Another amazing Canadian actor who was born in Toronto as the great-grandson of former Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Abbott, and raised in Quebec. He trained to be a concert pianist then assumed that acting was easier, and changed careers. In his twenties he apprenticed with the Canadian Repertory Company, and in three years alone played over 75 roles. That's a lot of memorizing. Now he's 83, and his career is still as busy as ever.

     Working as both a film and stage actor, you may have seen and heard him in shows and movies such as Up, International Velvet, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Lock Up Your Daughters, A Beautiful Mind, National Treasure, Caesar and Cleopatra, The Tempest, The Sound of Music, The Return of the Pink Panther, and the narrator for Madeline, and L'homme qui plantait des arbres.
He's also played Othello and Macbeth on Broadway, King Lear, Richard the Fifth, and has acted in many plays with the National Theatre in London, England, The Royal Shakespeare Company, and in the Stratford Festival in England.
Of course, these are only a small sampling of what he's done over his lifetime.

     He usually performs once a year in Stratford, Ontario. I highly recommend going to see one of his shows. Sometimes he does a meet and greet too. He also occasionally shows up at the yearly Toronto International Film Festival.

(Why he prefers playing evil characters) "The devil is more interesting than God."

     Talking about Julie Andrews, his co-actor in The Sound of Music: "Working with her is like being hit over the head with a Valentine's card."


The only reason Christopher Plummer agreed to do The Sound of Music was to prepare for a musical version of Cyrano de Bergerac. He didn't realize the impact that The Sound of Music would have on the world even now. Therefore whenever someone mentions this movie to him, or asks him to sing a song, apparently he gets really grouchy. I kind of get where he's coming from. Being part of one of the greatest family films ever (in my opinion) is really rough. You know, all the interviews, and fans and everything.

Elektra at Stratford Festival: Review

Sophocles' Greek tragedy Elektra, performed at the Tom Patterson Theatre during the Stratford festival, directed by Thomas Moschopolous and translated by Anne Carson is "elektrafying".

     Agamemnon, the king of Argos and the father of Orestes, has been murdered by his wife who loves another man, and his daughter Elektra grieves loudly. and prays to the gods to help her find revenge. His son Orestes is traveling to the palace with a small group to revenge Agamemnon's death as well. His companions lie and say that Orestes has been killed, so that Orestes may exact his plans in secret.

     This production freshens up a Greek tragedy that could have otherwise been stuffy and old. Elektra has a chorus of female virgins that support her and unsuccessfully attempt to console her throughout the play. The play is broken up by rhythmic acapella songs and chanting sung with the impeccable, ringing voice of Elektra, who is played by Stratford regular Yanna McIntosh, and accompanied by the strong voices of her chorus, who show their individual personalities while still contributing collectively, break the fourth wall by moving throughout the audience and singing to them.
     Important speeches are also rhythmically kept in time by a staff that they beat against the floor.


     The acting is full of emotion by each actor, especially by Elektra, who physicalizes her rage and grief into every word and movement, making her performance vibrant.

      Elektra is dressed in a schoolgirl-like collared black sweater and glasses, which is a creative way of modernizing the costuming and revealing clues about her character.

    The stage is set up with a statue of a figure under a transparent sheet on long, lit up tables lined down the center of the stage. This is later to be revealed as Agamemnon's tomb. The whole stage is roped off around the edges.

The whole performance was captivating. It was one of those shows that pulls you into the story so you don't think of anything else for an hour and fifteen minutes,

Canadian Conservatives and Arts Don't Mix

"Every budding dictatorship begins by muzzling the artists because they're a mouthy lot and they don't line up and salute very easily." -Margaret Atwood

     If Plato was alive, I am sure he never would have let Harper govern Canada. According to Plato, a suitable political leader is someone wise, who is 100% focused on the best interests of the country.
     Harper has, and is still failing in this respect.


What the conservative government has done for the Canadian arts:

• In 2008, the conservative government cut back $45 million in their budget for the arts and culture in Canada. 

• Censorship:  Again in 2008, the government tried to pass Bill C-10 through, that would allow the heritage minister to refuse tax credits to film and television productions that they considered unfit for the public (or contrary to messages that the government was trying to promote).

• In 2012, Bill C-427 was created. Its purpose was to allow artists to average their income over a specific period, in order to allow artists to make use of more tax savings. Artists on average make around $23,000 a year. That's for irregular hours, and doesn't include Employment Insurance and the Canada Pension Plan, which artists aren't currently eligible for.

      Yet Harper is allowing decreases in taxes for major corporations. Figures.  Use all of the artists' money to keep the country running, while at the same time slowly squash the survival rate of artists, in an attempt to smother all the free-thinkers in this country.

     Did you know that in Canada, there are over 1.1 million jobs that are related to arts and culture? Canada's Gross Domestic Product is approximately $1.72 trillion; these jobs contribute to this on average $86 billion.



     We need artists. Artists give a country a sense of pride, and identity.  The arts educate their audiences. Performance and visual art are an integral part of us, touching the innermost parts of our soul. Life would be bland without art.

     People need to realize that Harper's pitting everyone against each other. He's pitting everyone against teachers, making them appear to be greedy. He's pitting everyone against artists. Our ears and eyes are being filled with shallow pop music and television that has no (musical) depth and detrimental messages. He's pitting everyone against those who are the foundations of our society, those who encourage society's growth.


     People ask me why they should care about politics. Because politics controls your way of living. Really, to live a fulfilling life, I think it's really important to take charge of the quality of your life. If you let someone herd you into submission like every other citizen, then you're passing through life like a ghost. What really is the meaning of living then? 

Musical Theatre's Slow Deterioration

I think the concept of musical theatre is great. It's taking the arts to the next level, and combining dance, music, and theatre to make a story even more powerful and visual.

     You have no idea how difficult musicals are to put on.  You not only need rehearsals for the acting scenes and blocking, but also to learn the music and the choreography.  If you know of anyone in a musical, they've got serious talent.

     Unfortunately, since musicals are require so much effort to pull off, I feel like the industry has begun forsaking simpler musicals for flashier ones that will draw in as big an audience as possible for the most profits. Shrek was playing in the West End in London. Shrek, I personally dislike as a musical. It gives the impression that since the movie Shrek was so popular, Shrek was created in an attempt to draw out as many profits out as possible. It has no realistic characters, and no real message. No matter how much I love Wicked, I feel it fits into this entertainment musical category as well.

    They’ve started taking artists like ABBA and Queen, and writing musicals using these songs. It’s an interesting concept, but after seeing Mamma Mia, I concluded that
In Mamma Mia, it felt like they were singing for the sake of singing, of incorporating ABBA songs. The ABBA songs were repetitive, as most pop songs are, yet with most musical theatre songs there is often a buildup of emotion, or a realization that the character makes.  I feel that it’s more effective when a character is compelled by a conflict or their emotions to sing a song that directly relates and was written for that situation. That is the most powerful song that you will hear in musical theatre, one that will move the audience.

"Music blows lyrics up very quickly, and suddenly they become more than art. They become pompous and they become self-conscious ... I firmly believe that lyrics have to breathe and give the audience's ear a chance to understand what's going on. Particularly the theater, where you not only have the music, but you've got costume, story, acting, orchestra. There's a lot to take in."

-Stephen Sondheim

Pros and Cons of Professional Acting

Cons

• Most actors don't make it onto the red carpet in designer clothing.  Even some of those Hollywood celebrities will have another source of income, from producing, to working as a musician, to working in restaurants. If you enjoy Starbucks, the chances of an actor serving you is excellent, as they are a very actor-friendly business.

• The average acting income is only $10 000 annually (including people who only book one gig per year). Plus it's unlikely you'll have benefits of any kind. 

• This isn't necessarily a con, but actors must learn to leave their ego behind during auditions, and to take rejection with a grain of salt. Acting is a business, and your body and mind is the product being sold. Actors need to market and brand themselves, in order to make connections and stand out from the competition. Since there are so many actors and so little acting parts, often most people are just not right for the part. 

• There are many false people in the acting industry who will stab actors in the back by talking about them behind their back, and taking jabs at flaws, especially the physical appearances of actors.

• It's difficult to date or be married while being a dedicated actor. Actors will often have two-three weeks where they're working to the bone every day, and then will have 2-3 weeks with no jobs. In film, usually callbacks will be the day after an audition, a wardrobe fitting will be the following day, and the scene will be shot on the fourth day. Often casting calls are given at most 24 hours before an audition, so actors are often required to cancel plans, even funerals and family events at the last minute in order to make it to the audition.

Now you're probably confused as to why anyone would want to act after discovering those cons. Fortunately, acting can be extremely enriching and rewarding for those who are absolutely passionate.

Pros

• Fortunately, according to Kenny Bania, a film actor, out of the multitudes of aspiring actors, 60% of them aren't good, 35% don't show up to their audition, are under-prepared, or are rude. That leaves a good actor in the top 5%, while there is work for the top 3%.

• You can start at any point in your life to become an actor. Ken Jeong from Community was a full-time physician who eventually morphed into a stand-up comedian and then a full-time actor. He still updates his skills and medical education in case he wants to return to that practice later. Lisa Kudrow from Friends started out as a biology major. An acting degree is not necessary. Scarlett Johansson for example, didn't get accepted into the New York University film program, and look where she is now.

• Actors have lots of opportunity to pursue other interests, which helps make them more well-rounded actors. The more experience and education an actor has, the more they're able to contribute to their role and character development.

• You're getting paid to dress up and play pretend, while most people are sitting in boring, stuffy offices all day spending most of their time unproductively on Farmville, or interacting with customers that don't say thank you.

Think about it.