Fight Choreography

This element to our show was the most complex.  We had to not only figure out how to sword fight safely in a blackbox with very little playing space, but we also had to choreograph fights that shifted the power balance to the women characters in the show.  Usually, the most epic fights are reserved for Peter Pan and Captain Hook but in Hickson's script, we also wanted to honor Tiger Lily's skills and motivations as well as Wendy's new found bravery.  I'm not sure we were able to achieve the balance that I'd hoped for. 

I really appreciated working with such skilled choreographers and student fight captains.  Additionally, the students playing Captain Hook, Peter Pan, and Smee all had high skill in stage combat which made the storytelling of each fight much more compelling.  Tiger Lily's fight was exciting to see as well since she wipes out several pirates deftly.  Working with such a skilled pool of artists was a real novelty and I felt that it really amped up quality of the show.

However, if I had the opportunity to direct this part of the show again, I think I would have found clearer ways, particularly in the end fight on the Jolly Roger, to use Tink, Tiger Lily, and Wendy as more substantial fighters.  There were moments when we toyed with Wendy being the one to kill Captain Hook.  We choregraphed it and rehearsed it but found so much opposition from the cast to this change in the fight choreography that ultimately it was discarded in favor of a sort of half-fight from Wendy.  I regret it.  I regret that I could have given that moment to Wendy because I feel that it would have clarified this version of the story as her adventure.  I felt it was important that we get to see Neverland through her eyes and her claiming her own place in the story, especially since she is the one who leads Tink and Tiger Lily in their ultimate collaboration.  I should have been bolder about holding my ground here.

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Fight Choreography Stories

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We needed a way to not only keep all the fight choreography organized, but also a way to help us clarify the most important storytelling moments of each fight.  

In the first column, there is information from the script about each fight.  It includes page numbers, who is involved, and some details about the fight.  

Our fight choreographer had limited time with our cast, so in the second column, I broke down the key storytelling elements for our fight choreographer so that as the choreography was happening those key elements could be included.