Photo Flash: Adam Noble Returns To Beef And Boards For CAMELOT

It isn't as easy as it may look, said Adam Noble, assistant professor of movement at Indiana University's Department of Theatre and Drama, who choreographed the combat in the production.

"The challenges of presenting combat scenes on stage are manifold," he explained. "We must create a believable eruption of physical and emotional violence; that violence must live within the context of the play, and tell its own story of the characters involved."

And as if that wasn't enough, "all the while, we must maintain actor safety in the face of this illusion of danger," he added. "And, of course, we must be able to repeat it over and over and over again!"

Noble is a trained stuntman and a recognized actor/combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors. His skills have taken him to New York, California and Washington to teach combat, and he has choreographed the violence for more than 40 stage and film productions.

Also a freelance movement consultant, Noble has been enlisted to instruct fight choreography for three Beef & Boards productions in two years. The first was the Midwest premiere of Treasure Island last season.

"In Treasure Island, we dealt mostly with 'single-sword combat,' which is the term we use to describe single rapier fighting," he explained. "Although Treasure Island also incorporated knives and found object fighting."

Then, last fall, Noble returned to teach hand-to-hand combat in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. This skill is also needed - to a lesser extent - in Camelot.

"Although there is some unarmed (hand-to-hand) combat in this production ... it is predominately broadsword combat," he said, adding that this type of weapon offers its own challenges: familiarity and weight.

"Most actors have swung a baseball bat or an axe and - although the physics of the movements are similar - it is this feeling of familiarity that often results in actors hitting each other or the swords too hard," Noble explained. "We are in the business of providing the illusion of combat. The illusion of hitting hard. The illusion of violence. Harnessing the comfort level that actors sometimes feel with this weapon, yet encouraging them to think of their movements in a new way - well, that's a fine line to walk."

Then weight of the weapon also presents its own challenge.

"Although historically this weapon was not all that heavy - most 'standard'-sized blades where under three pounds - the mass of metal that the audience sees scything through the air leads most unknowing spectators to believe that they were and are much heavier," Noble said. "Therefore, when the actor or combatants utilize broadswords in a historically accurate fashion, often the audience does not 'believe' the weapon. Perception is powerful, and this dichotomy leads most stage combat practitioners to add 'weight' to the weapons through fully embodied acting."

Based on the T.H. White Arthurian fantasy novel "The Once and Future King," Camelot tells the famous tale of King Arthur, his queen Guenevere, Merlyn the magician, Lancelot and the brave Knights of the Round Table.

There are 39 performances of Camelot scheduled in the intimate space of Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre through Oct. 10. Tickets range from $35 to $58, and include Chef Odell Ward's specially prepared buffet, with a fruit & salad bar, unlimited coffee, tea and lemonade. Parking is free. For reservations, call the Beef & Boards Box Office at 317.872.9664. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays.

Camelot is sponsored in part by the National Bank of Indianapolis. For details, visit www.beefandboards.com.