Action & Fight Design
for Stage

Simple slaps and mass battles

No matter if your production is Shakespeare or August: Osage County, musical or opera, vaudevillian comedy or drama, we are passionate about creating action that is innovative, faithful to the director’s vision, supports the story, and exciting to watch. We focus on making sure all choreography is:

• Safe for cast and crew

• Suitable to the ability of all participants

• Achievable within the available time frame

• Complimentary to the characters, style, and genre

• Technically appropriate for stage and set design

• Visually exciting using rhythm, timing, and choreography

• Able to tell a story and aid in character progression

What is Action and Violence Design?

Action design is more than just fight sequences. Beyond the obvious clash-and-bash of combat, it includes a wide variety of movement. Basics (slaps, grabs, shoves), dynamic reactions (tripping, falling, jumping, flying), and weapon handling (familiarization, posing, brandishing) are all crucial pieces to the fluidity of your story. If your production has any prop or instance that portrays violence - from mundane to gruesome - a fight choreographer can help ensure your actors are comfortable and safe while embodying their characters.

What is Fight Design?

Choreography and fight sequences that most people think of when they hear ”stage combat” makes up the bulk of what we call fight design. Fight directors help to provide choreography that is dynamic, effective, and story-driven. A fight director can also train the cast in foundational movement, choreography, and acting to sell the scene. By hiring a fight director, productions incorporate authentic fight scenes, bringing additional depth to the narrative.

services for Stage

• Action direction and consultation

• Fight choreography

• Weapon and theatrical firearm handling

• Weapon and fight training (e.g. single sword, rapier, dagger, longsword, broadsword, shield, axe, quarterstaff, bow & arrow)

• Unarmed combat

• High falls

• Slaps and grabs

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

• Aladdin Jr., music by Alan Menken, book by Chad Beguelin, and lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, Chad Beguelin

• Assassins, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman

• Beauty and the Beast, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Tim Rice, Howard Ashman

• Hamlet by William Shakespeare

• Henry V by William Shakespeare

• Life on the Moon by Anna Tatelman

• Macbeth by William Shakespeare

• Mud Row by Dominique Morisseau

• Peter Pan by James Matthew Barrie and The Peter Pan Company

• Richard III by William Shakespeare

• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

• She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen

• Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood by Ken Ludwig

• Silent Night by Kevin Puts

• Tarzan, music and lyrics by Phil Collins and book by David Henry Hwang

• The Adventures of Robin Hood

• The Girl of the Golden West by Giacomo Puccini

• The Passenger by Mieczyslaw Weinberg

• The Play That Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer

• Treasure Island by Ken Ludwig