A few summers ago, I saw a sequence of torture and murder
onstage that horrified me in all the right ways—simply, it looked real. Fully
immersed in the tension of the moment, I forgot for a moment where I was. In
hindsight, however, I realized I hadn’t for an instant worried about the actors
both perpetrating and undergoing the crime not ten feet from me in real time.
Why?
Christopher Elst.
Elst, fight director for MCT’s production of DEATHTRAP,
has a gift for making an audience squirm with the kind of intricate physical
storytelling that follows when conflict between characters escalates beyond
words alone. Since seeing his work for the first time those summers ago, I’ve
been insatiably curious about his process and his own story. Recently, even as
he wrapped Theater RED’s latest production (Elst and spouse Marcee Doherty-Elst
are the company’s producing directors), he graciously granted a request for an
interview.
Marcella Kearns: What originally drew you to undertaking
the study of violence design (stage combat)? What continues to captivate you
about this aspect of the theatre?
Christopher Elst: I started in high school when I heard
about the “fencing” program for the high school Madrigal Dinner in Kenosha. I
had always had an eye for swords and martial arts and thought this might be a
way to start learning more. I was “captain” of the team in my senior year, but
it was really more of an acting troupe than anything. I began to assist the
teachers in my first year out of high school, and then began teaching it myself
shortly thereafter. I joined the SAFD (Society of American Fight Directors), at the urging of Jamie Cheatham, in 2006
and have pursued stage combat as a profession ever since.
CE: Theatrical violence incorporates the most important
aspects of theatrical performance: objectives and commitment at the very
highest stakes, physical communication and cooperation between actors, and a
dual awareness at both the character and actor levels. For me, stage combat
informs all of my work as an actor.
I consider stage combat to be a modern martial art,
focused on storytelling, rather than defense, in the same way that many Eastern
disciplines teach that violence and destruction are set aside in favor of
aesthetic creation. A master becomes an artist, as the understanding of
violence reminds one of their human nature—the earth, the id, the beast, etc.—but
channeling that directionless passion are the creative and rational drives. As
artists in the theatre, the consummation of all arts, we have the ability and
responsibility to bring this violence as realistically to bear as we are able
in order to confront and discuss, and perhaps to change, the way in which we
accept and cope with our natural tendency toward violence.
To that end, it is essential that we as fight directors
give our actors the tools required to tell these stories. By necessity, we
begin to help with precautions against harm; beyond the obvious preservation of
the body, if the actor must hesitate because of a safety concern, then we have
hindered the story by whatever fraction that hesitation costs. Contrarily, when
we instill in actors the knowledge and practice to free them of the constraint
of fear, we not only allow that particular scene to come alive, but we bring
the actors to a greater state of awareness and commitment, which can only serve
them in all aspects of performance.
The responsibility is colossal for fight directors, as
with any teachers, to keep this always in mind. We must understand fear,
violence, and all of the darkest parts of our humanity in order to create
compelling art, but we must be in command of those forces, and teach others to
be in command of them, if that art is to be of value.
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| Elst directed the fight scenes in Theater RED's swashbuckling BONNY ANNE BONNY. (L, Zach Thomas Woods; R, Alicia Rice. Photo: Traveling Lemur Productions) |
MK: What have you found is the most challenging part of staging fights with actors who have very little experience with combat? What’s challenging, on the other hand, about working with actors who are very experienced?
CE: Classical acting training once mandated that all
actors be trained in stage combat, but it’s rare to run across someone with
more than cursory knowledge today, which is surprising when one considers all
of the popular media that features violence. Working with an actor unfamiliar
mostly poses challenges in getting the appropriate commitment level; they are
usually either too timid or too eager. I am fond of saying, “Keep your method
acting out of my stage combat, please.”
Contrarily, with actors accustomed to the work, including
me, the trick is to remind them of the dangers the characters face and not to
be too complacent in the responses. Also, veteran stage combatants can cling to
bad habits, or make a character seem facile with a weapon, when the character
should not be. Being too comfortable with stage violence can be detrimental to
the story, even if safety is more assured.
MK: There are several weapons revealed as part of the
setting of DEATHTRAP. If you had your pick, which of those would be most
exciting to you to use in a fight and why?
CE: I have to say, I was drawn to the work by swords, and
I’m still fascinated by them, even with my facility in their use. There’s a
reason other weapons just never found their way as strongly into the canon of
theatrical violence, and indeed, history. There have always been swords. Their
elegance and effectiveness are unsurpassed.
MK: Along the same lines, what do you enjoy most about
DEATHTRAP, both as an artist working on the team and as one who gets to see it
from the house?
CE: Long before I considered the theatre as an
occupation, I had seen the film version of DEATHTRAP. I love the blend of dark
humor and true thrills, and I hope to bring the actors to a place where they
can startle even me with this production.
MK: If it’s possible to answer this without spoilers:
what do you foresee may be the most challenging thing for you to accomplish
(and/or the actors to execute… no pun intended…) on DEATHTRAP?
CE: Theatrical violence is no different than a magic
trick. The challenge here is that we never know which effect is meant to be
real and which is a character fooling another character and the audience. We
want to create that duplicity without belying the truth of each moment. That
will take some real focus, and I think we have a great team to make it happen.
MK: Do you have any “dream plays” to choreograph?
CE: I think I’d like to have a chance at THE THREE
MUSKETEERS or something in that vein. BONNY ANNE BONNY (with Theater RED) was the closest I’ve
come, and we did a bang-up job if I say so myself, but those old swashbuckling
epics were the beacon to me in my youth, and I’d like to see what I can do when
realism is no limit.
Elst’s innovation seems to have no limit. Join us at MCT
for DEATHTRAP — with him in charge of the fights, we can guarantee the thrills.
DEATHTRAP opens August 10 and runs through August 27. Tickets can be purchased at 414.291.7800 or online.
