Clashing metal rapiers and fierce yells echo in the practice room at Portland Stage Company as two men circle each other looking for an advantage until fight choreographer Mark Bedell breaks in. He walks actors through corrections to the sequence they are practicing for a PORTopera performance of “Romeo et Juliette.”

Bedell, 42, grew up in Saco, attending local elementary schools before high school, when he enrolled in a military academy in Virginia. During his high school years, he honed hand-to-hand combat skills as well as weaponry while working closely with several branches of special services, including the Army Rangers. 

At 19, Bedell was diagnosed with asthma serious enough to bar him from his goal of joining the military. Bedell said he did not have money saved for college, so he returned to Maine after graduation to work at Funtown Splashtown USA, where he previously worked summers during the school year. Bedell discovered a talent for performing while working in the now closed “Haunted Mansion.” 

“There is some theater in my blood too,” he said. 

Once Bedell realized performing was of interest, he began looking for plays and shows to audition for. He was first drawn to fight choreography playing the role of Aladdin with the Children’s Theater of Maine that required him to fight with a scimitar made of wood. 

“I faked my way through,” he said. “I’d love to know what that [fight] looks like.” 

Bedell said a very memorable moment from the play stays with him, reminding him of what can happen when fights don’t go as planned. He was fighting his opponent when he ducked, per the script. When he ducked, his costume pants ripped and knowing he was supposed to turn his back on the audience the next move, he attempted to get his fighting partner to try something different. Unfortunately, as Bedell’s costume ripped, his opponent’s wooden sword broke and boomeranged out over the audience before landing on the stage again. 

“In a situation like that, you are forced to improvise. Under extreme conditions, there’s nothing else you can do,” he said. “But generally, you never improvise a fight.”

When Bedell left the Children’s Theater of Maine, he established a theater troupe called Krackerjack Theater Company, which toured schools and playhouses in the Northeast for more than 14 years.

Eventually, he ended up in Los Angeles.

“I turned out to be a pretty good film actor,” Bedell said. 

He decided to try his hand at stunts, using the knowledge from the military academy to become a licensed weapons handler and stunt coordinator. Bedell has a variety of independent films under his belt and has worked on nationally known blockbusters, including “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Transformers.”  He said his name does not appear in the credits of larger movies, where his title was “special abilities,” which he describes as one step above an extra.

While in Los Angeles, Bedell met production manager Jaclyn Marshall, who eventually became his wife. The couple are expecting their first child in January and live in Saco.

“The love of a good woman [brought me back to Maine],” he said.

Bedell said Los Angeles is a good place to live for single people, but said once another person enters the picture, it matters if you are employed because there is another person to care for. He said Jaclyn encouraged him to apply for a teaching position at Waynflete Academy in Portland, where he taught stage combat and technical theater for two years. 

In 2006, Bedell opened the Maine Academy of Staged Combat in Westbrook, where he teaches staged combat and Jaclyn serves as education director for children and adults interested in learning about staged fighting. Bedell is currently involved with several productions in southern Maine, including a performance of “Romeo et Juliette” at PORTopera. He said the level of the actors’ professionalism during production has made his job easier.

“At some levels, I have to show them where to put their feet but at this level it’s simple because the actors are really good; I can do more fancy stuff,” he said. 

Bedell said fight scenes are based on the story, and although he is not familiar with the opera version of Romeo and Juliet, he knows the basic story well. For the opera, actors fight using a rapier and dagger, which Bedell said has a historical context and support. He said he often incorporates the actors ideas of how they feel their character would behave, so each show he choreographs is different. 

As actors are learning moves for a fight, Bedell, walks them through at a slow speed to be sure the moves are fluid and believable and the actors have time to memorize the sequence to enhance safety. 

“There are safety guidelines for each move,” Bedell said. “This is two-handed fighting, so the actors need to have both hands coordinated so they don’t miss a move.” 

During a recent practice at the Portland Stage Company, Bedell coached Michael Mayes of Frisco, Texas, who is playing Mercutio and John McVeigh of South Portland as Tybalt through several fight scenes. 

Mayes and McVeigh walked through the first scene without incident, warming up and gauging their memories of the moves, which had not been practiced for a few days. They ran into a little trouble in the second scene, when a small move caused a minor thumb injury. Once recovered, the two continued to spar through their scene, until a call from the director, noting stage positions would have to be reversed and other accommodations made to the scene. 

Bedell sprung into action with his own weapons, searching for a way to change the layout of the scene to achieve the same outcome — Mercutio’s death. He tried a few moves, and then settled on a new sequence. The actors ran through several times, and cast members offered additional suggestions. 

Prior to the practice session, Bedell worked on readying daggers for other actors. There are options for carrying weapons, all historically accurate, but Bedell said it is important for the actor to practice using and carrying the weapon before the show. 

For more information about classes, visit www.fight-director.org.

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By Stephanie Grinnell