24-Hour Theatre @ ISB – Stage Combat

This weekend I participated in the school’s annual 24-Hour Theatre project. Every year a theme is selected and the students spend 24 hours learning new techniques and coming up with an original public performance.

This year’s theme was Stage Combat and we invited professional South African actor, Christopher Boyd, a specialist in the field to come and work with our drama and theatre students. The students learned the fundamentals of stage combat (eye contact – preparation – action (sound) – reaction), unarmed combat choreography, and sword fighting. The group performed the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet and they also devised scenes of their own to demonstrate the techniques mastered over the 24 hour period. Everyone slept in the school and in the evening we watched the classic, “West Side Story” and learned more about how to portray conflict or tension on stage.

The 20 high school students absolutely loved it! I brought my son Owen along and he also played a part in one of the skits.

These are the kinds of experiences that make ISB special. The opportunity for students to learn these kinds of skills from a professional is so beneficial to their development. I would like to thank our Theatre Director, Mr. Bruce McDonald and Mr. Christopher Boyd for putting on the workshop.