Scott Cummins
He is lying supine on the ground, surrounded by seven standing men–some of them big and bearlike, some small and scrawny, others lean and spidery. They are taking turns kicking him in slow motion, grinning in exultation as their victim recoils from the impact, writhing feebly until the next shoe smashes into one of his bones or body organs. Suddenly a shrill whistle, as of a referee, is heard. The action immediately switches to full-speed, as all of the attackers close in on their target, kicking him in unison, seven individual sneaker-clad feet moving exactly the same distance, in the same direction, at the same time. The picture of savage animals bringing down their prey is quickly and absurdly transformed into one of a Riverdance-like chorus performing a precision-drill time-step.
Fight captain Scott Cummins winces and shakes his head, as does director Kate Buckley. Among The Thugs, adapted for the stage by Tom Szentgyorgyi, is based on American journalist Bill Buford’s exploration of mob violence among British soccer fans. Its theme demands simulated mayhem delivering all the awe-inspiring shock of a terrorist bombing. And there are only 11 more days until the piece is scheduled to open at Evanston’s Next Theatre.
The eight actors are all now on their feet, relaxed but alert, and awaiting instructions. Cummins surveys them thoughtfully.
Aaron Christensen
“You, John, you kick once,” he calls out, pointing. “Mark, R.J., you both kick three times. Dominic, Andy, you kick twice. Brad, you’ve got the whistle–you kick once. You too, Eric. And John, when you’re through kicking him, cross downstage a few steps. Now, let’s take it from the last two slow kicks–John and Dom, that’s yours–and see how that looks.”
Aaron Christensen–“the beanbag”–positions himself on the ground again. After he receives his two slo-mo kicks, the whistle sounds the cue. There is an immediate flurry of jerking feet, and, just as rapidly, the attackers break formation and run away, leaving their battered victim unconscious. Cummins and Buckley both nod. “That’s better.”
“When I first spoke with Robin McFarquhar, our fight choreographer [presently working on another project, and unavailable for interview], I said that I wanted the fights to look as realistic as possible,” Buckley tells me. “I didn’t want long-bout, punch-jab-and-thrust duels, but something that happens–bang!–in a split second. Most fights usually have a set-up consisting of a complex series of moves, but our fights are one-two-three and they’re out. Robin is English himself, and when he was younger, he went to the matches. So he’s seen this kind of movement, and he said that’s exactly the way it was. He also thought it was a great idea, since he’d not done anything like that in awhile.”