AN AVERAGE NIGHT WITH A FIGHT: Ned Mochel reports from the West Coast
Only recently have drama critics seen fit to mention fights in their reviews of plays, but On An Average Day's furious battle between two brothers in a placid, if recently neglected, suburban kitchen drew press accolades (despite the weakness of John Kolvenbach's script) at both its premiere production in Los Angeles ("frightening veracity", "one of the most ferocious fights ever seen onstage...inflict[s] damage that you are sure will be fatal"), as did its subsequent remount in Chicago ("tooth-loosening stage combat," "a protracted stage fight that might have you reaching for your cell phone in case an ambulance is needed").
The fight in both productions was the creation of Ned Mochel, who in the 1990s pioneered Chicago stage combat as an artistic element in its own right with his showcase series entitled A Night At The Fights.
In 1995, the Joseph Jefferson committee presented him with an award -- one of only four recognizing stage combat in over ten years -- for his swashbuckling spectacle in The Fair Maid Of The West. Relocated to California in 2004 after a stint as stunt coordinator for the Italian movie, Film Warriors, he has continued to
craft fights for stage and screen, including the Los Angeles premiere of Tracy Letts's Killer Joe and Bug.
MARY SHEN BARNIDGE: Did Kolvenbach's script play any part in shaping the Average Day fight?
NED MOCHEL: None! Out of nowhere, the script called for a "colossal battle." This was the climax of the play, but there was no sub-textual moment that seemed to adequately provoke
such a monumental fight.
BARNIDGE: The critics all noticed that, too. So what did you end up doing?
MOCHEL: Normally, I approach pre-production meetings with a clear vision of how I see the violence, after reading the text and speaking at length with the director. But in this case, I had no choice but to inform the production team that I hadn't a clue as to how the fight might unfold.
BARNIDGE: How'd they respond to that news?
MOCHEL: I was very lucky to be working with an incredibly talented and patient director named Ron Klier, who allowed me the time to find the battle, organically. It was a journey of discovery for all of us.
BARNIDGE: Did you choreograph the fight first, then ask for certain props--dangling baskets, overstuffed trash cans, flimsy curtains, and so forth? Or did you draw your arsenal from what was already on the stage?
MOCHEL: I wanted a breakaway environment that I could, literally, tear apart during every performance. Early in the process, I connected with the set designer -- the very talented Danny Cistone. The two of us began to invent, and then incorporate, these destructible elements into the design.
BARNIDGE: Did the actors offer any suggestions as to how the fight should progress?
MOCHEL: Absolutely! The entire fight is grounded in a deep emotional struggle, so the actors' input played a key role in developing the battle.
BARNIDGE: How much fight training did your actors [Stef Tovar and Johnny Clark] have, previous to this show?
MOCHEL: Stef was a seasoned combat pro, Johnny had very little fight training--but sometimes all the planets do align! They were both naturals--a big boon to the production, since I could focus on the choreography and not have to worry about basic fight training.
BARNIDGE: How much rehearsal time did you have?
MOCHEL: The rehearsal for the L.A. production was very intensive. We worked on the fight, often three or four hours at a time, almost every other day for five weeks. More time was devoted to this one battle than in ninety percent of the fights I've choreographed.
BARNIDGE: How about the remount in Chicago this past summer?
MOCHEL: I flew in to Chicago to rebuild the fight at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse space, with the help of my assistant choreographer, [Stef's brother SAFD fight instructor] John Tovar. It's an amazing experience to build a fight for a production and then, with the exact same team in place, do it again for a second production. I wish every show I worked on offered me this luxury!
BARNIDGE: You mostly work out of Los Angeles these days. We often think of theater there as being just Shakespeare and musicals. But are there theater companies in the region doing the kinds of shows that call for these kinds of fights?
MOCHEL: I was surprised to find a lot of live theater in Los Angeles, but the real problem with the scene here is community. It's difficult for theater companies here to connect with each other. The reality of this city is that the focus, both press and word-of-mouth, is directed toward film and television. This makes the task of generating attention, and gathering audience for a given production, an enormous challenge.
BARNIDGE: You work on both stage and film. How does your choreography for one medium differ from the other -- if that's not a silly question?
MOCHEL: That's actually a great question. I was very fortunate to arrive with a foot in the door of the Los Angeles stunt/action scene. I've been the stunt coordinator on four feature films so far, along with numerous short films and webisodes (on-line content). The answer is that -- well, sometimes my film experience mirrors that of live theater very closely, and other times, it couldn't be more different. Most hand-to-hand combat between actors is similar on both stage and screen, but when I get into film-stunt work, the requirements begin to change dramatically.
BARNIDGE: How so? MOCHEL: Take a recent example: In a low-budget feature film I worked on, a young female actor was to shoot an older male actor. Gun shot, bullet hits, blood sprays, body falls -- short and sweet, right? Not in the world of film: I brought in a pyro expert to handle the explosives, the squibs and the firearms. I hired a fire marshall to be on the set during the filming of the sequence. I made sure that all the proper permits were in place and all safety measures were being followed. I was on the set, myself, to storyboard it with the director, the AD and the DP, and rehearse with the actors. Then -- during the actual filming -- I coordinated all these elements and people to achieve my desired result.
>BARNIDGE: So it's not just a fight, but a full production number --
MOCHEL: And not what a stage combat choreographer would deal with. For this reason, crossover between mediums is very rare.
BARNIDGE: You the transition, however.
MOCHEL: That's true. But I remember my first film project, 7000 feet up in the Italian Alps, putting together a high-speed car chase between two black BMWs. Talk about learning on the fly! I only smashed one BMW! Lucky me! It was then that I realized that this was whole different world of action.
BARNIDGE: If you're a fight choreographer or an actor-combatant looking for work on the West Coast, should you focus more on stunt training or combat training?.
MOCHEL: Focus on both, I'd say. Really, it depends on what you want to do. I think every actor should know the basics of stage combat -- this knowledge will translate into the film world well. If your passion lies in the stunt world, however, I'd suggest that you consider a specialty -- high falls, car work, explosives, martial arts, whatever -- and then connect with a stunt coordinator. Like in every area of the L.A. film scene, it's not easy to break in.
BARNIDGE: But there are job opportunities in both fields? MOCHEL: With training, persistence and dumb luck, yes. In my short time there, I've found it's hard to achieve one without the other two.
[END]
