THE THREE MUSKETEERS - Stratford Festival

Imaginative Ways to Approach the TextStage Combat - StorytellingGrade Level 8 - 12Subject Area(s) English, Drama, Phys. Ed.SpaceDesks moved aside and clear open space in the classroomMaterials andPrep. Internet connection or DVD player. Handouts of “Stage Combat” article from Stratford for StudentsConvincing and exciting fight sequences, both on film and in the theatre, look spontaneous butare painstakingly rehearsed by professionals. Some of the best fight director/choreographers forfilm are Jackie Chan and George Marshall Ruge. With today’s technology, however, movie fightsequences all incorporate digital technology and editing to enhance the scenes. One of the verybest fight directors in the world for theatre is the Stratford Festival’s John Stead. He must createconvincing fight sequences, that help tell the story, without any movie “magic” or editingsoftware.Setting up the exercise: Have the students watch the opening fight scene between Jack and Will from Pirates ofthe Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (choreographed by Ruge) and the bar fightscene from Shanghai Noon (choreographed by Jackie Chan). (You can find the clips onYouTube or on the DVDs of the films.)Next, as a class, read the article “Stage Combat” from Stratford for Students(www.stratfordfestival.ca/education/teachers.aspx?id=8609). This will give students anunderstanding of John Stead’s approach to staging fight sequences at the Festival, fortheatre in general and The Three Musketeers in particular.In groups of 3, have students write a simple 2-minute fight scene with storytellingelements. The plot must be clear and easy to understand: Setting, Protagonist v.Antagonist, Conflict, Resolution. For example:Title: “The War of the Brides”Setting: Bridal shopProtagonist: Bride-to-be #1Antagonist: Bride-to-be #2Conflict: Fight over the same dressResolution: They rip the dress in half, so the shop assistant sellsthe dress half-price to them both.Have the students plan the fight with this simple table:Movement Action/Item Actor A Actor B Dialogue1 Wedding dress Pulls at dress Pulls back “Let go!”2 Lets go “That’ll teachyou!”3 Falls on ground4 Leaps on top of AHave the students rehearse the scene slowly, building skills and momentum. Ask thestudents to perform the scene for the class and grade the performance using a rubric.Extension: Follow up this lesson with a professional stage combat workshop at the StratfordFestival.The Three MusketeersStudy GuideStratford Festival 2013 13