The fight in Act 3 Scene 1 is an integral part of the play’s plot; when Mercutio cries “Come sir, your passado!” he heralds the downfall of Romeo and Juliet. The fight marks the premise for the tragedy: Mercutio dies, Romeo kills Tybalt , for which he is banished from Verona and his love. It is important therefore that the stage fight is used within the confines of the plot and not just an attachment to it. Each fight is choreographed to work with the lines and not against the rhythm of the scene. It is not violent for violence’ sake. For example, in rehearsals I choreographed a mad scuffle between Romeo and Paris in the tomb in Act 5; it took about 2 days and half a dozen bruises to look good. However, when we returned to the scene a week or so later and looked at it within the context of the scene it just didn’t look or feel right. Hence, in the production when you see Paris die it is short and sudden to allow the ‘death’ scene to flow. The actor’s involved now know what it feels like to end up on the cutting room floor.
The fights have been rehearsed over the passed three weeks and for John (Tybalt) this has meant learning how to fence. On the whole each fencing move will have a counter move (a parry and riposte), it is the swiftness of thought that catches the opponent out and wins the point. However, in Mercutio and Tybalt’s fight it’s no game and there is a little more at stake. Moves within fights reflect the characters who make them; when Tybalt tries to out manoeuvre Mercutio he becomes dirty using kicks and punches to aid him to victory. Mercutio has to counter this by becoming like Tybalt and dies in the process.
Each fight is built up section by section, starting very slowly and progressing to performance speed only after many hours of practice. Moves are practiced over and over again until the actors are very bored but very safe. Stage fighting is more akin to dance than it is fighting, with feet and body positions of great importance. The ‘cheat’ of stage fighting is to understand that an audiences’ reaction to a punch will depend greatly on how well it is shielded from them and that the person being hit makes it convincing. About 80% of a moves success comes from reaction rather than action.
By not giving the play a specific period setting and mixing and matching
costume styles we have tried to give the production a very out-of-time feel;
it could be anywhere or anywhen. I’ve tried to keep the look of the fights
in step with this idea by using a mixture of fighting techniques: classical
foil fencing, street-fighting and a little martial arts. In fusing these styles
I’ve attempted to create a junk society when anything and everything
is used in order to survive.