Audiences across South Carolina will see sword fights, scuffles, and sudden bursts of violence on stage this season. Behind those moments is Brian Guidry-LeTraunik, assistant professor of theater at Coker University and the state’s only certified teacher of stage combat.
Guidry-LeTraunik will choreograph fight scenes for four major productions between now and April 2026. The work ranges from Shakespearean tragedy to American drama to dark comedy. For each show, he brings both artistry and safety to moments of physical conflict.
“This season is an incredible opportunity to explore the many ways stage violence tells a story,” he said.
Guidry-LeTraunik joined Coker’s faculty in 2023 and serves as theater program coordinator. He is a certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, a distinction held by no one else in the state.
He holds an MFA in acting from Western Illinois University and a bachelor’s degree in theater from Columbia College Chicago. He has also published research on the history of stage combat, exploring how choreographed violence has developed in contemporary theater and film.
At Coker, he teaches courses in acting, directing, movement, voice, Shakespeare, and musical theater history, while also training students in stage combat.
The first project, Titus Andronicus, with the South Carolina Shakespeare Company in Columbia, runs from September 25 to October 4. Known as Shakespeare’s earliest and bloodiest tragedy, the production demands a balance between brutality and storytelling.
“I am especially excited to be choreographing Titus Andronicus for the first time,” Guidry-LeTraunik said. “Their dedication to the work and the storytelling makes for an amazingly collaborative experience.”
Later in the fall, he will stage the violence in Dial M for Murder at the Charleston Stage Company, from October 15 to November 2. The play, a thriller made famous by Alfred Hitchcock’s film adaptation, centers on a murder plot that goes awry.
“Charleston Stage Company is one of the most prominent theatre companies in South Carolina, and I am very eager to be a part of this tight and thrilling production,” he said.
In February, he returns to Sumter Little Theatre to choreograph A Streetcar Named Desire, Feb. 26 through March 8. He previously worked with the company on Sweat in 2023.
Rounding out the season is A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at Centre Stage in Greenville, March 19 through April 4. The darkly comic musical features a string of outlandish deaths, mixing slapstick with surprise.
For Guidry-LeTraunik, fight choreography is more than spectacle. Each moment of violence must reveal something about the characters and their choices.
“Violence on stage should make the audience lean in, not look away,” he said. “It’s about conflict, emotion, and human stakes.”
As the state’s only certified stage combat teacher, he also raises safety standards for local theaters. His methods ensure that actors can perform physical scenes night after night without injury, while maintaining performances that are compelling and believable.
That combination of artistry and safety, he said, is what makes stage combat both challenging and essential.
