Being a violence designer has apparently skewed Rob Najarian’s sense of beauty. During rehearsal when he declared, “That is a lovely picture,” he was not describing an early embrace between Desdamona and Othello or even one of Cassio and Bianca’s saucy entanglements. No, he was gushing about how Roderigo (played by Doug Lockwood) wielded his knife a few inches above Cassio’s (Michael Forden Walker) head as they began their deadly duet in scene V.1.
Devising violence for Shakespeare requires an alchemist’s expertise (as illustrated by last fall's post on the sausage tests required for Taming of the Shrew). Minimal stage directions, e.g. “They fight”, must be transformed into realistic brawls with a wide variety of weapons. Each switch of a blade, slap across a face, and snap of a neck must be broken down into minute details. Actors who may not have extensive stage combat training must quickly grasp all the nuances to safely execute maneuvers while keeping the Elizabethan dialogue rolling. And, unlike dance, performers can rarely rely on music to set a cohesive rhythm for the group.
Watching Rob bounce back and forth crafting jabs, thrusts, and falls for all the killings in Othello, is oddly enough thoroughly entertaining. Somehow he manages to remember each person’s individual sequence of movements complete with grunts and moans (his falsetto version of Desdamona ironically slayed everyone watching), maintain a narrative logic within the fight, and pepper his instructions with $5 words like penumbra.
If you are curious to know more about this bloody craft, feel free to check out my interview with Rob about fight choreography from Monkeyhouse's blog.
Karen Krolak
Assistant Director
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