THEATRE STUDENTS ATTEND "LORD OF THE RINGS" FIGHTING SEMINAR posted 10/6/03

World-renowned fighting styles designer Tony Wolf works with Michigan fighting styles designer John Lennox to demonstrate a principle to AC theatre students.

Adrian theatre students recently learned about stage fighting from a bona fide expert. Tony Wolf, the official Fighting Styles Designer for the "Lord of the Rings" films, presented an action workshop on Oct. 9.

Twenty lucky students, selected by a lottery, participated in the four-hour seminar. In it, they learned about Wolf's original approach to performance combat training. His system teaches the basic principles behind any style of fighting, whether on stage or screen.

"I see performance combat as a form of physical theatre," Wolf said. "Safety and storytelling are the only rules.”

Wolf is a professional fight director whose work has been featured in over 180 feature film, television, theatre, opera and ballet productions. He most recently worked with the Washington Opera Company on its Otello tour in Japan.

Before that, he worked with director Peter Jackson on the “Lord of the Rings” films. His job was to develop a distinct way of fighting for each type of creature—from orcs to elves—and then teach the actors how to do it.

Both Wolf and Jackson are natives of New Zealand, and have worked together on several projects.

Wolf is currently on a month-long workshop tour of the U.S.