Crafting a combat scene for Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
By Kennedy Ryan
November 17, 2023
Anika Hahn '25 participated in professor Robert Walsh's spring introduction to stage combat course.
Throwing punches, sword fighting, and starting duels. For Anika Hahn ’25, the fight captain of Brandeis University’s sold-out production of Twelfth Night, these are a major part of every performance.
The theater arts major discovered their passion during an introduction to stage combat course with professor Robert Walsh. With over 40 years of experience working in theater, film and television, Walsh combines his work as an actor, director, producer and teacher to help students position themselves for a career in the industry.
Walsh spent the spring semester illustrating the meticulous detail and choreography that goes into a stage fight performance. Students practiced one-on-one fight scenes and choreographed their own.
While fight scenes in movies, plays, and other productions avoid harmful physical contact or violence completely, it’s a delicate balance to pull off the illusion of a real fight for an audience. Hahn quickly picked up on the skill.
“I’m a trained dancer and have been practicing for a long time,” said Hahn. “They call stage combat a choreography routine for a reason. There’s a lot of technique involved. You need to connect with your scene partner while being very specific about your distance. Even a little too far or too close can ruin the illusion.”
Each production at Brandeis is run with the help of staff, a full cast, student stage managers, and, when needed, a fight captain. In addition to being chosen to lead the cast as fight captain in Twelfth Night, Hahn is performing as the lead role, Viola. Twelfth Night, a Shakespearian work, is a romance with love triangles, plot twists, and humor. It is Hahn’s fourth production within the theater department, and they look forward to bringing audiences through the story’s twists and turns.
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
Photo Credit: Ken Yotsukura Photography
“I’ve seen the show a few times and I laugh every time,” said Hahn. “It’s a couple of hours of letting yourself breathe and have fun. It’s a big joyful event for everyone.”
Throughout the rehearsal process, Hahn had the responsibility of balancing memorizing lines, rehearsing stage blocking, and leading the cast through fight calls. Fight calls are a daily part of the process all the way through the production run.
During a ‘fight call,’ the cast comes together to rehearse their specific fight scene choreography. This can include sword fights, fist fights, or other tense moments among characters that call for a choreographed routine.
Using the choreography created by Walsh, Hahn walked cast members through their scenes at a slower pace until they were ready to perform at full speed. With several steps and tedious choreography, it took time before performers were ready for the big performance. Each night before the performance, cast members practiced their fight scenes at full speed.
After graduation, Hahn hopes to find opportunities in stage combat or intimacy coordination (arranging choreography for actors performing intimacy). While both are different, they each prioritize making actors feel completely safe in their environment.
“It’s about connecting to storytelling in a safe way. Everyone should work within actors' boundaries. It’s okay to experience being uncomfortable, as long as it is not unsafe.”
