Monday, August 13, 2012

Fisticuffs and Pointy Stuffs, a post by Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves here bringing you ze latest in all zat is related to ze rehearsal of ziss show, Six Dead Qveens und eine Inflatable Henry.

Enough with the dialect, this is Deborah who plays Anne now taking over for real.  Each of us was given the task of writing for the blog and I must say the first topic that came to mind were the incredible fights we get to participate in as queens.

"Fights?" you say with a question mark in your voice.
"Fights," I reply with a grin.  We are, after all, portraying 6 women stuck in purgatory together for hundreds of years.  If you don't think there'd be fighting after all those years I'm betting you're either an only child or terribly optimistic.

So yes, with the help of the amazingly talented Missy Styles as fight choreographer we get a little hand to hand combat, a little found objects combat, some tousles, and my favorite (perhaps because Anne of C fights in this one) a fight using rapier and dagger.

(Don't they look so calm?  "Pardon me, I just need you to move your arm ever so slightly so I can slide this rapier riiiiight.....here.  Thank you." Camillo Aggrippa: Trattato di Scientia d’Arme (1553))

Having never been in a fight before, either real or on stage, I can honestly say I didn't know what I was getting myself in for when I agreed to a rapier and dagger fight.  But the learning of it...boy has this ever been fun!  I find stage fighting to be incredibly difficult and fulfilling. Fighting is like a dance with emotional intention; emotional intention and the ability to harm...with tools.  The same trust of your partner has to be there as in a dance - it has to be concrete or it'll never be believable - but the addition of the sharp and pointy makes that trust even more important.

What fun and what hard work to learn to perform a fight convincingly and without harm.  The Piccolo tenant of awareness of one's body in space and the extension of that consciousness through the instruments we hold and use comes in mighty handy.  So looking forward to perfecting the moves and putting on a show for our patrons.  More than that, I'm excited to let these fights help us tell the story of 6 women bruised by their pasts. 

Now, who does Anne fight?  Does Anne win?  You'll have to come to the theater to find out.  Head to piccolotheatre.com to purchase your ticket and reserve a seat today.


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