FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT Stage Combat Intensive

A week of throwing yourself into STAGE COMBAT and ACTION for theatre, motion capture and film!

One of our favourite workshops! The FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT Stage Combat Intensive is your chance to train in this exhilarating aspect of acting performance. Full-time. For an uninterrupted week.

Dramatic combat or ‘stage combat’ can involve anything from a ‘simple push’, to a ‘scuffle’, to a full-scale sword fight, and it is used extensively across the industry. It is essential in these moments to use techniques that keep your actions safe while still dramatically effective. Without these techniques we get clunky, unrealistic and unsafe fights that jolt the actors, audience out of the story, and at times terrify the crew and creatives (for the wrong reasons). Being trained in stage combat frees you to tell the story you want to tell, commit to your performance and enthral the audience without the fear of anyone getting hurt.

 This workshop is an industry-based experience with internationally-recognised Lyndall Grant, one of Australia’s leading Fight Directors. The training focuses on what you need to bring out your best work across a range of weapons and unarmed combat, across a range of genres and time periods, and with a range of techniques.

So… you will be thrown into action, movement, conditioning, fitness, form, historical context, theory, acting and technique. The result? You will widen your skill base, widen your casting range, and enter a network of highly passionate and creative performers. That is, you will have a lot of fun.

Dancehouse Carlton

150 Princes St, Carlton North, 3054

This workshop is created for anyone with an interest in the performing arts – actors, dancers, circus performers, stunt performers, directors, stage management, other creative and crew… or someone dipping their toe into the Arts for the first time.

Captivate actively advocates for and supports diverse and equitable work and learning spaces. We also fiercely protect safe work and learning spaces for all of our participants. If you have any concerns or questions please get in touch with us.

The course will cater to all levels of experience – from absolute beginners to experienced performers wishing to further their craft.  We also cater to all levels of physical fitness and abilities – although of course the more in-shape you are, the more you can get out of the week.

EARLY BIRD: $595 (+ 10% GST) (register and complete payment by 15/02/23 )
CONCESSION: $655 (+ 10% GST)
STANDARD: $695 (+ 10% GST)


A deposit of at least 50% of your course fee is required on registration.

We accept online transfer or Square Online Payments (2.2% admin fee), so let us know what is the easiest method of payment for you. Payment details are listed on the Course Registration Form and are provided in your information email on registration.

Bookings are now open! This workshop sells out each year in Melbourne, so spots will be very competitive. Just fill out the online registration form, transfer the deposit (if choosing to pay by card), and we will reply with your registration confirmation and additional payment information.

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Make sure you get a text box confirmation that your registration form has gone through as soon as you press SUBMIT. If you do not hear from us within 48 hours, check your junk mail, and then send us an email.

The health and safety of our students, tutors, venue staff, all of our family and friends, and the wider community is absolutely vital. Both Captivate and Dancehouse are dedicated to running this course strictly within the most up-to-date Government-advised COVID-Safe guidelines. This includes requiring proof of full and up-to-date covid-19 vaccination prior to attending the course (or a valid medical exemption).

Students and tutors will be asked to stay home if they have shown any signs related to a COVID-19 infection, and/or if they are required self-isolate by the DHS. Any students forced to miss the workshop for COVID-19 related reasons will be offered a full or pro rata refund of any course fees paid.

Lyndall is a Fight Director, Movement Director, actor and Motion Capture Specialist who works in Australia and Internationally for stage and screen.  She is a senior teacher and Management Committee member for the Society of Australian Fight Directors, and certified Dramatic Combat teacher with the British Academy of Dramatic Combat.  Lyndall currently teaches Stage Combat at the Victorian College of the Arts (The University of Melbourne) and 16th Street Actors Studio.  Lyndall trained as an actor as London’s ArtsEd School of Acting, before specialising in fight performance and physical performance.  She began working as a fight director in London in 2010. In 2013 Lyndall established Captivate Action Ltd. in the U.K., as the first company to specialise in training and performance in action and Motion Capture, and brought this company home to Australia in 2015.  Lyndall was a performer, aerialist and Movement Captain in Melbourne’s production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child from its opening in 2019 until 2022.

Recent fight/movement directing credits include:  Groundhog Day the Musical, Death of a Salesman, 2:22 A Ghost Story, An American in Paris (GWB); The Picture of Dorian Grey (Theatre Royal Haymarket, London – Michael Cassel Group); Beauty and the Beast (Disney Australia); Grease the Musical (Crossroads Live); 37, A Very Jewish Christmas Carol, My Sister Jill, Sunday, As You Like It, Berlin, The Lifespan of a Fact, Torch the Place, Cosi, Storm Boy, The Violent Outburst that Lead Me To you, The Architect, The Lady in the Van, Hungry Ghosts, Vivid White, Macbeth, Minnie and Liraz, Melbourne Talam, Lillith the Jungle Girl, Straight White Men (Melbourne Theatre Company); Atlantis, The Return, Looking for Alibrandi, Because the Night, Cloudstreet (Malthouse Theatre);  Is God Is (Sydney Theatre Company / Melbourne Theatre Company); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf (Red Stitch); Il Viaggio a Reims (Opera Australia); Miked, Punk Rock (45 Downstairs); No Exemptions (Shift Theatre); Alice in Winterland, The Wind in the Willow, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (Rose Theatre Kingston, U.K.); Lohengrin (Melbourne Opera). 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Got questions? Get in touch