Stage Combat: Unarmed (with Online Video Content)

Master the Art of Safe, Stunning Theatrical Violence

Learn the choreography that makes action scenes believable and thrilling

About the Ebook

'This is a book about how to beat the living daylights out of another human being safely...'

Roger Bartlett – professional fight director and Master Teacher for the British Academy of Stage & Screen Combat – leads you through everything you need to know in order to create and perform unarmed stage fights that are compelling, realistic and, above all, safe.

Starting with the essential concepts, including Victim Control and Reversal of Energy, you will learn how to perform all of the following moves:

• Slapping
• Punching
• Kicking
• Strangling
• Pulling and Pushing
• Falling
• Locking
• Blocking

Each technique is clearly described, extensively illustrated, and accompanied by online videos demonstrating it in slow motion and at full speed. Also included are chapters on understanding and conveying your character's pain, and creating and rehearsing your own fight sequence.

For those already trained in stage combat, it will serve as a comprehensive reminder of what you have learned, and supplement your ongoing training. For amateur, fringe and student companies, the book offers a thorough understanding of the practicalities of staging a fight, but also helps you to recognise when you may need to call upon the services of a qualified professional.

Whatever your current level of experience, Stage Combat: Unarmed is the essential book for directors, actors, students and teachers, or indeed anyone looking to incorporate safe, effective stage fights into their productions.

Why You'll Love This Ebook

• Develop proficiency in unarmed stage combat techniques with professional training
• Understand the safety protocols that protect you and your scene partners
• Learn how to make on-stage violence look convincing and impactful
• Access video demonstrations from Nick Hern Books' certified combat specialists

About the Author

Roger Bartlett is a Master Teacher and Examiner with the British Academy of Stage & Screen Combat (BASSC), the UK's leading provider of stage-combat training. He has taught at events and workshops throughout Europe and the United States; schools including the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Nissan Nativ Acting Studio in Jerusalem; and has been the stage-combat teacher at the Birmingham School of Acting since 2003 and City Lit, London, since 2004. He is the author of Stage Combat: Unarmed, published by Nick Hern Books.

He is also an Equity-registered fight director and has worked on many varied productions for venues including Liverpool Everyman, the Bush Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Theatre Royal Bath, Southwark Playhouse, the Finborough Theatre, the Gala Theatre, Durham, and Warwick Castle – and companies including Paines Plough, Sell A Door and Iris Theatre. He was the Associate Fight Director for the National Theatre's worldwide hit One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean.

For film, he has worked as part of the stunt team for the Vertigo Films production Hammer of the Gods, the popular TV show Vikings, and fulfilled a dream when he was able to kill a zombie or two
in Apocalypse.

Having started out as an actor, working on small-scale and fringe-theatre productions and student films, he still regularly acts and directs for the Company of Ten, an amateur theatre company based at the Abbey Theatre, St Albans. He lives in the city with his wife and cat.

Visit his website, www.fights4stage.com.

Publication Details

ISBN (EPUB): 9781780018041
Publication Date: 25 August 2016
Pages: 176
Format: Ebook (EPUB)
Publisher: Nick Hern Books

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