Risk Only Time [Stage Directions]
<p>Dangeous art doesn't have to be made in dangerous conditions</p><p>Woke up this morning to a broken arm in my Face book feed. It belonged to the actor <person>Carole Swann</person>. A story on the website of the <org>Society of American Fight Directors</org> (<a href="http://www.safd.org/tce/07-2011/abuse-job">www.safd.org/tce/07-2011/abuse-job</a>) detailed (with a pics and x-rays) the saga of how her arm was broken in a fight rehearsal by the artistic director of a theatre who doesn't believe in professionally choreographed stage combat. The result being - obviously - real violence.</p><p>Now seems like a good time to unequivocally state my absolute support for properly trained and certified fight choreographers, courtesy of the <org>Society of American Fight Directors</org>, and the amazing - SAFE - work they do. There's a fine line between stage violence and real violence. You need to be sure that at all times you are on the correct side of that line. It's a common phrase that the tool of an actor is their body. It's a powerful tool. You need to be just as safe when you use it as you would be with a nail gun. Ora stage gun.</p><p>There's a phrase in the recovery movement: "God looks after fools and drunks." We in theatre may very often be both - but if there's one thing we should have learned from Spider-Man, it's that accidents still happen. (Cheap shot, I know - but you get my point.)</p><p>Very often those involved in theatre are warned what they will have to give up in order to pursue a career: insurance, benefits, a balanced life, job security - the list goes on. Part of me wonders just how much this psychological mindset is at work behind this accident - or any others in the theatre. If we've been asked to risk so much - and we're told just how often we are - what's one more risk? What's one more little flight against common sense? After all, isn't our entire livelihood built around the idea that we're going to defy the odds? That normal rules and logic don't apply to us? I don't need to use safety goggles. I don't need to clip in at height. I don't need to choreograph this fight.</p><p>I understand that there's an inherent risk in everything we do - including walking across the street - but what if we stopped using that as an excuse? What would theatre look like if we stopped all that? I'm not saying we cover the set in bubble wrap and require all actors to wear helmets. But I am saying that maybe all we ought to risk is our time. Just because we want to make risk-taking work doesn't mean that the work of making it needs to be risky.</p><p><person>Jacob Coakley</person></p><p><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></p>
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