My Stage Combat Journey

From my first unarmed stage combat class in college with Toby Minor, I’ve been hooked on fight choreography (pun intended). I’d always made up fun little fights in my backyard growing up, so when I discovered I could pursue that professionally, I knew it was something I wanted to do. I keep my actors safe while providing choreography that’s fun to perform, entertaining to watch, and in service to the overall story. Currently I’m trained in unarmed, single sword, quarterstaff, Irish shillelagh (walking stick), and arnis (two short sticks), and rapier and dagger. I also know some longsword and shortsword (I learned a bit of both styles for productions that needed them), but I’m planning to earn my SAFD certification in as many fighting styles as I can. I’ve choreographed for multiple productions, including Spike Heels, She Kills Monsters, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth (for which I was nominated for a B. Iden Payne Award), Tail End Charlie, The Odyssey, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and most recently the world premiere of rain falls special on me.

Fight Choreography By Riley

Excerpt from Alpha Psi Omega's production of Romeo and Juliet Directed by Nate Nelson Choreographed by Riley Wesson

Final exam performance for Toby Minor's 2018 Fall semester stick stage combat class at Texas State University. In this class students learned how to stage combat scenes with quarterstaff, Irish shillelagh, and arnis. For the final, they were tasked with finding a scene to choreograph a fight to using at least one of the fighting styles taught in the class.

Excerpt from Alpha Psi Omega's production of Romeo and Juliet Directed by Nate Nelson Choreographed by Riley Wesson Romeo: Elizabeth Catchings Tybalt: Amy Bouquet

Excerpt from The Austin Shakespeare Young Shakespeare Company's production of Macbeth. Directed by Ann Ciccollela and Nancy Eyermann Choreographed by Riley Wesson

Excerpt from Alpha Psi Omega's production of Romeo and Juliet Directed by Nate Nelson Choreographed by Riley Wesson Mercutio: Matthew Kennedy Tybalt: Amy Bouquet

Excerpt from The Austin Shakespeare Young Shakespeare Company's production of Macbeth. Directed by Ann Ciccollela and Nancy Eyermann Choreographed by Riley Wesson

Stage Combat

Final exam performance for Toby Minor's 2018 Spring semester single sword stage combat class at Texas State University. In this class students learned how to choreograph fight scenes with quarterstaff, Irish shillelagh, and arnis. For the final, they were tasked with finding a scene to choreograph a fight to using at least one of the fighting styles taught in the class.

Excerpt from Haymaker Players' world premiere of Tail End Charlie by Joey Banks. Robert Dobson: Riley Wesson George Dobson: Joey Banks Frank: Justin Smith Directed by Joey Banks and Matt Connely Choreographed by Riley Wesson

Final exam performance for Toby Minor's 2018 Spring semester single sword stage combat class at Texas State University. In this class students learned how to choreograph fight scenes for the single sword style. For the final, they were tasked with finding a scene to choreograph a fight to using the style taught in the class.

“At the end of the day, stage combat is really closer to magic. We’re making the audience believe a thing that’s never really existed and that’s a beautiful thing to create.”

— Casey Kaleba