A word from our Fight Director of “Gloria,” Martin Noyes

SPOILER WARNING FOR “Gloria” >>>>

 

Hi,

I’m Martin Noyes, the Fight Director for Chance Theater’s production of “Gloria.” With over 32 years of experience in stage combat and fight directing, I’m a certified teacher through the Society of American Fight Directors. My work includes productions at Savannah College of Art and Design, South Coast Repertory, and Shakespeare Santa Cruz. I’ve overseen fight choreography at the Chance Theater for several shows, ensuring the highest safety standards. I want you to know that I take my work very seriously, so I’m here to talk to you about the sequences of violence in Gloria.

Now, this show features four instances of staged choreographed violence. We will be using a prop that fires. This prop will produce a loud percussive sound, heat, and a little light, but absolutely nothing will come out of it.

What constitutes a prop that fires?:

  • Plugged barrel
  • The exhaust port is uniquely positioned and never comes out the end of the barrel (for example, the prop that fires has a port above going up)
  • We will decide on the percussive value of the load (a load is how much black powder is in each round)
  • Every round that’s used and fired has NO projectile that comes out. It’s just a flash of light and sound.
  • No prop that fires will ever be pointed at any patron or actors on stage, though it may look like it.

The overall violent sequence will take no longer than 15 seconds to complete.

In the final moments of Act 1, the play takes a shocking turn as a character suddenly uses a prop that fires in a moment of heightened tension, resulting in a violent sequence where three characters are “shot.” This sequence includes multiple loud percussive sounds, with each “shot” represented by these sounds and heat and light from the prop.

By sharing this information, we hope to reassure you that while this sequence is intense and highly realistic, our top priority is the safety of our performers and patrons. We’ve taken every precaution to ensure that no one is put in harm’s way during this production.

The theater is a place we go to learn, emphasize, grow, challenge ourselves, and most of all, hopefully, to be entertained. We’ve taken these steps to ensure you don’t have to worry about anything besides entirely investing in the story.