Southwestern College theatre department and Campus Players are teaming up with the South Kansas Symphony to put on a production of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” directed by Roger Moon and conducted by Daniel Stevens.   Performances will be March 3 and 5 at 7:30 p.m. and March 7 at 3 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium and March 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the Poncan Theatre in Ponca City, Okla.

Along with great love and tragedy of this piece comes fighting.  That is when Richard Buswell, fight choreographer, comes into the picture.
Buswell’s motto when choreographing a fight is “safety first, safety last, safety always.”  Buswell says if a fight choreographer says he can eliminate the risk of
stage combat then he is lying. 

“My job is to create an exciting and believable fight in which the performers are as safe as they can be,” Buswell says. 

There will always be risk but Buswell can take the risk down to an acceptable level. 

“No pain, no pain” is another one of his mottos.  If an actor gets hurt while doing stage combat then he cannot work.  Buswell says it also makes his reputation look bad and his reputation is important to him.  One does not have to be expertly trained to be in a fight scene, he or she just has to be willing to try, and to handle situations with a level of maturity.  He says it’s not about how good you are, but about how good you look.

When choreographing a fight Buswell takes into account the nature of the show while at the same time following the desires of the director.  The only time he will override a director is if the safety of the actors are at an unnecessary risk.  His focus is to choreograph fights that are character driven.  He wants his movements to flow for the actor, have intention behind them, and increase the level of intensity.

Buswell started fight choreography while in college but did not do it full time for 15 years while working on computer programming.  He stopped programming two years ago because it was unsatisfying for him and started fight choreography full time.  He has been trained by fight masters from all over the world such as the British Academy of Dramatic Combat, British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat, Fight Directors Canada, Society of America Fight Directors, Society of Australian Fight Directors, and Nordic Fight Society.

Buswell is enjoying his time at Southwestern College.  He has choreographed “Romeo and Juliet” several times before but says this is the most interesting take on the show and the most fun he has had with it. 

“I like working with people,” Buswell says.  “Everyone here is great; not just to work
with but in terms of people. They make me feel welcome and relaxed.”

For more information about any of the shows, call (620) 229-6272.