/ Milton Derek Nieves (in the background) guides the students through the intricacies of staging sword fights that, while looking dangerously authentic to the audience, keep the performers safe.
The fine art of dramatic swordplay was being taught in the front yard of Tallahassee s Goodwood Museum and Gardens on Saturday, July 24. It was hosted by the Southern Shakespeare Company.
The instructor for the occasion was M. Derek Nieves. He noted performing a realistic - but safe - onstage swordfight take a lot of skill and practice. There s got to be the same breathing and concentration and love that goes into learning a soliloquy that goes into crossing swords so that the audience will have the same journey through the fight that they would through the monologue, but also so the safety and integrity of the piece can happen.
In conjunction with the production, Southern Shakespeare selected winners for its 2021 Sonnet contest. Here are the winning sonnets in the three categories.