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Can’t Help Falling...

The different types of fake stage falls and how to survive them 

By Christina Hamlett 

Former actress and director Christina Hamlett is an award-winning author whose credits to date include 52 books, 278 stage plays and squillions of articles on the performing arts.  www.authorhamlett.com. 

Whether it’s fisticuffs, a comedic pratfall, or a graceful Victorian swoon, taking a tumble onstage requires actors to master two crucial skills:  (1) make it look spontaneous and (2) don’t break anything which could call for a visit to the nearest emergency room.  Among a performer’s best arsenal of prep tools is a familiarity with gymnastics coupled with a little knowledge of gravity.

Despite the dramatic “Ow!” when children fall down, we as adults can take a page from the reason they rarely suffer serious injury.  Specifically, they didn’t see the fall coming, and they’re much closer to the ground when it happens.

Types of fake falls and their potential injuries

There are three categories of stage falls:  back, front, and side.  What is primarily exposed in each type dictates the body part(s) needing protection and how to land safely to minimize injury.

In a back fall (i.e., being punched from the front in a fight scene, or slipping on a banana peel), the back of the head, hips, and tailbone are at the greatest risk.  There’s also a natural tendency to try to regain flailing balance by twisting the body and attempting to break the fall with one’s arms, a move which jeopardizes wrists and elbows.

Front falls are generally associated with tripping or being pushed from behind.  The areas to protect are the front of the head, the teeth, wrists, and knees.

Side falls are a popular component of hand-to-hand combat scenes and are essentially the same as back falls except for, well, landing on one’s side.  Here, the side of the head, shoulders, elbows, and wrists could take the brunt of impact if not carefully choreographed.

Rehearsing in slow motion

A director I once worked with said that if a fall on stage makes any noise, it’s not only going to leave a bruise but it’s also an indicator the fall wasn’t done right.  To that end, he put us through our paces rehearsing each fall in slow motion so we were conscious of every single movement, whether as an action or a reaction.  Such careful choreography left nothing to chance, emphasized our respective centers of gravity, and made the finished product both convincing to the audience and safe for the actors.

Relax, bend, and roll

The earlier reference to the resiliency of children is tied in large part to their joy of doing somersaults, rolling on the grass, and orchestrating “ta-da” landings when they jump off of things.  Because it’s all play, they’re relaxed.  In theatre, being relaxed versus being rigid makes the difference between soft landings in a fake fall and accruing bruises.  The less you tense up and brace for impact, the more effectively you can spread it over a larger surface.  Stretching exercises or even some yoga practice prior to rehearsals and performance are helpful, too.  Bend those elbows and knees to keep them fluid.

In a back or side fall, the objective is to tuck your chin to your chest, lean slightly forward, and attempt to roll onto your upper back or buttocks, all the while curling up like a doodle bug.  “Land on the meaty parts, not the bones,” our director would say.  In costume dramas, you can incorporate extra (unseen) padding around the knees, elbows, and hips.  Likewise, precautions can be taken to have padding under seemingly innocuous rugs near the fall spots and ensuring that the closest furniture doesn’t have any sharp corners.

In a front fall, you’ll want to maneuver yourself into a plank position with your face to the side, feet far apart, bending the elbows and relying on your forearms for necessary support.  A front fall allows you to be able to crouch enroute, thus putting you closer to the ground before you ever come in contact with it.  Because these falls happen unexpectedly from the audience point of view, no one will notice how you physically prepped to slide into a lower elevation.

I feel a faint coming on

Lastly are the occasions when an actor is called upon to faint from shock or light-headedness.  Obviously the least risky approach is to have another actor simply catch this graceful swoon (usually under the armpits) and lower the fainter onto the nearest couch or the floor.

In the absence of someone to do the catching, the first step is to align your body straight up, squat down as low as you can and place your upstage (unseen) hand slightly behind you to ease your way down to a sprawl.  If you’re fainting forward, squat down as before.  As your heels start to come up, slightly arch your back, ease your knees to the ground and use the palms of your hands in a push-up position to lower yourself the rest of the way.

As with any physical stagecraft, consistent and supervised practice is a must insofar as understanding a body’s potential and its limitations when called upon to go from vertical to horizontal.  And, of course, if falls of any kind can’t be accomplished successfully, it’s paramount to find alternatives which will make your actors feel comfortable.