Sword fights are fun to watch, but how do you translate them into words? In this 90min workshop, writer and actor-combatant B. T. Freeman uses their stage combat training to craft exciting action scenes in their fiction, poetry and playwriting. We’ll cover a (very) brief history of weaponry (mostly swords, because… swords are fun), how the body and voice react to injuries, and how stage combat can inform written fights. This workshop is mostly for fiction writing, though poets will also benefit from these techniques.
Key Takeaways:
- basic overview of weapons history
- basic information about how actors perform fights, injuries, and deaths
- how stage combat can inform written descriptions of action
Meet Your Instructor
AKA “the sword-wielding chaos goblin,” B. T. Freeman is an actor-combatant and writer focused on queer joy and Shakespeare. They are certified with Dueling Arts International as a Level 2 actor-combatant, pursuing stage combat teacher training this summer. His writing peers often note B. T.’s enthusiastic use of swords and fights throughout their work. They’ve published poetry with Anodyne Magazine, the NonBinary Review, Clinch, Beyond the Veil Press, Querencia Press, and others, and their plays have been produced at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Purdue Theatre, and the Unstaged Podcast.
Cover photo by Fernando Duran-Alcantar
