From Cry Havoc
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Pumphouse Theatres
Thursday, April 10 - Saturday, April 19
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Stage-fighting moves to centre stage in Cry Havoc, one of two works being produced simultaneously by Scorpio Theatre.
Creator and director Aaron Conrad says he was inspired by a fringe festival show he once saw that featured fighting, and from thinking about "fight choreographers who never get to do anything cool even though they're trained for it."
Six local playwrights wrote 10 separate scenes to make up the play. Each scene ranges in length from five to 10 minutes. The scenes vary from two girls squabbling in a restaurant, to guys fighting off zombies, to medieval dramas. "The only criteria was that each scene had to highlight an action sequence," says Conrad.
Scattered throughout the 10 scenes are every type of fight imaginable, from fist fights with chairs flying, to broadsword dueling, martial arts and bo staff battling. "There are three things I always insist upon in my fights," says Conrad. "Safety, realism and a sense of theatrical flare, so it reads well to the audience. The fight has to look like it's actually happening but, as soon as the audience thinks the actor — not just the character — is in danger, they stop paying attention to the fight and start worrying.
"It takes awhile to get the fight choreography out of the head and into the body to make it look natural," he adds, noting that a three-minute fight takes at least two months of rehearsal time. "Audiences probably won't have seen something quite like this before, but I think it'll definitely make an impression on them."
Scorpio's second show, taking place at Dancers' Studio West, is Dying on Stage. Directed by Bill Torrie, it's a frothy, fun tale by Scorpio's artistic director, Dan Gibbins. "It's about a couple who have an old-fashioned variety show, Variety Invasion. People start getting killed off during the show one night and the host, Johnny Rayner, must keep the audience, and the show's star, from finding out," says Torrie. "It's truly a tale of ‘the show must go on.’
"It's a lot of fun seeing Johnny try to keep things together, and the efforts he goes to, to keep the show running," he adds.
The stage is divided into "onstage" and "backstage" portions, with the action alternating between the two: the Variety Invasion skits and dance number, and the performers waiting backstage.
Torrie says this is the first original script he's directed. "I've always wanted to direct one of Dan Gibbins's scripts," he says. "I like his wordplay, and he always delves into a bit of philosophical stuff no matter how goofy the scripts are.”
