Macbeth

How and why do characters fight in the play?

Fights tend to happen when words run out, when you become so frustrated or so angry that you can’t express yourself with words, and you resort to physical action. So you need to know about each character, and what actually presses those buttons to push them over the edge. There’s a great deal of psychology involved in a fight. I tend to choreograph fights that come from the motivation of the actors, from their character; the way that they move, the way that they think. This determines where they are actually going to attack their opponent, because where you are going to attack depends how much you want to hurt someone. Do they go for a main artery, so they’re going to die quickly, or just a flesh wound to scar them, so everyone can see? What are they actually trying to achieve?