A left jab. A right hook. A quick uppercut to the chin.
Most of us can admit that at some time in our lives, we've all wished to resort to these tactics to solve our problems. But usually the consequences of these actions - from broken noses to bruised egos hold us back. But that wasn't the case in the auditorium on Oct. 1, when punches were flying and swords were thrusting.
As part of the Shakespeare in the Schools program, students from Susan Ledford, Richard Hildner, 'Asta Bowen, and Kristen Morin's sophomore English and world history blocks and Dave Hashley's theater arts block participated in the art of theater and stage combat.
Tim Hyland, the program's representative from Seattle, Wash. said he first became interested in theater when he participated in community plays in his junior high.
"I love to take this cool, theatrical stuff to people who may have never experienced it before," said Hyland. "It was really fun to be here."
The 'cool theatrical stuff' consisted of stage combat, which involves tripping, choking, and sword fighting without hurting the actors, yet making it look realistic. The students learned that the trick to making everything look real was to let the person being punched, strangled, or stabbed control everything. This is done so that no one will get hurt.
"I learned how to strangle one my friends without really strangling him," said sophomore Derek Frank.
The program also involved a theory of movement called undulation, which involves fluid and wavy motions. To practice this technique, the students pretended they were a tree blowing in the wind or acted as if they were falling.
"We wanted to bring the performance here because we are studying the Renaissance and
Shakespeare," said Ledford. "We wanted the students to see a live performance done by
professionals and a chance to do theater, not just read about."