Fight Direction

A play is a fight. At least one person wants something, and they have some sort of obstacle they must overcome to achieve this want. The obstacle can be internal, literal, conceptual, or another person… even if that other is the audience. Whatever or whoever the opposition may be, many times these fights are manifested through stage direction as onstage violence, and it is the fight choreographer’s task to create that violence in safe, effective, and provocative ways.

Gaby accomplishes this by prioritizing collaboration, storytelling, communication, and specificity in her work, utilizing her extensive training in weapon styles with the SAFD and speaking the languages of performer, director, choreographer, dancer, designer, and audience. Every action is motivated by character and performer, interacts with and compliments design, honors the visions of director and playwright, and resonates within the audience. Every action is also safe, repeatable, and true.

Of Note.

Gaby Labotka received the first ever ALTA Award for Outstanding Fight Choreography and/or Intimacy Design for her fight direction of A Story Told in Seven Fights by The Neo-Futurists and the second for her fight direction of La Ruta by Isaac Gomez presented by Steppenwolf. This award was historic not only in being the first, but it was also the first time a femme and/or non-binary person had been nominated for a Chicago-based award for fight choreography within a decade and it is the first award ever specifically dedicated to recognizing the art of intimacy direction.

Reviews

“My violent tendencies remind me that I have to shout out Gaby Labotka and her fight choreography. The fight scene between Laertes (Gregory Fenner) and Hamlet was epic, elegant, and frightening. Labotka used the space perfectly and curated a powerful mixture of sweeping, graceful gestures and short, choppy jabs. Not one contact slap was made, and yet I completely bought the danger and ferocity of the moment. I’m not sure I breathed during that scene. I applaud Labotka’s commitment to keeping actors safe while remaining faithful to the story being told and the urgency of the moment. “

• Tanuja Jagernauth, Rescripted Reviews [Hamlet]

“…there are moments when “Hamlet” truly excels. Many of these are connected to Gaby Labotka’s fight choreography, which looks dangerously authentic. The Gift Theatre’s intimacy – nobody is more than about 10 feet from the stage – ups the ante considerably once the steel starts flashing.”

• Catey Sullivan, Chicago Sun-Times [Hamlet]

“And it would be a great injustice to neglect commending Gaby Labtoka’s fight direction, which is all sharp and brilliant. The duel in particular is a triumph; it could not have been easy to choreograph a rapier fight in that tiny space. “

• Emma Couling, NewCity Stage [Hamlet]

"The choreography of the eponymous seven fights is remarkable, varying from slapstick to hyperrealistic to terpsichorean to entirely verbal. Tremendous symbolic power accompanies these stylistic shifts."

• Harold Jaffe, Picture This Post [A Story Told in Seven Fights]

"A Story Told in Seven Fights... begins as a stage combat-heavy presentation of the Dadaist and Surrealist movements and ends with a quieter, more personal meditation on what happens when a leader leaves his followers in the dust, his followers wondering what the hell happened...the combat is superbly choreographed and exciting (thanks to fight director Gaby Labotka), and it’s one of the strongest Neo-Futurists productions I’ve seen in a while."

• Lauren Whalen, Chicago Theatre Beat [A Story Told in Seven Fights]

“The essential scenes for this production directed with passion by Elizabeth Lovelady and fight choreographer Gaby Labotka made great use of the relatively small space for so much physical action and complex action scenes.”

• Kimberly Katz, Buzz Center Stage [The Good Fight]

“Choreographer Gaby Labotka does a spectacular job of using the stage and varying elements of combat — billy clubs, martial arts, hand-to-hand — to show the frighteningly realistic violence the protesters endured year after year.”

• Elizabeth Ellis, PerformInk [The Good Fight]

“…the excellent fight choreography by Gaby Labotka makes the throws and falls land with intense reality. These women are athletes, and they protect their own, using opponents’ strength to their advantage, and protecting one another before striking against others. Such movement represents the heart of “The Good Fight.” Compromise and action can only happen when activists are willing to stand together, and force the public to see their points of view.”

Sarah Bowden, Theatre by Numbers [The Good Fight]

Videos

Intimacy Direction

No one should be hurt at work.

Gaby’s method of developing intimacy choreography is the same as her philosophy of fight choreography: while prioritizing safety, everything is made in service to the story, the audience, and the people telling it together. Adhering to IDC’s Pillars of Intimacy in Production and the Chicago Theatre Standards, she collaborates with all artists in the room to honor story without compromising anyone’s personal boundaries, ensuring constant and clear communication and consent throughout the process.

Gaby advocates that moments of intimacy are generated by upholding consent culture, cultivating brave spaces in which respect, vulnerability, and accountability can flourish while art is made.

Certified Intimacy Director with Intimacy Directors & Coordinators

Intimacy Coordination

Reviews and Mentions

“Carapetyan’s Lucy emanates a lifetime’s worth of artistic and gender-based frustration and delivers on a cringe-inducing sex scene that’s all about a boyfriend who treats her alternately like a cash cow and a blow-up doll. (Gaby Labotka’s intimacy direction in this production is stellar throughout.)”

• Catey Sullivan, The Reader [The Writer]

“And Gaby Labotka’s intimacy work shines at highlighting both how well these women know each other, but what a large bridge in intimacy they still have to cross.”

• Sarah Bowden, Theatre by Numbers [Stop Kiss]

“Casey Chapman plays the Doctor in one emotionally devastating scene that echoes the chilling American history of medical malpractice and sexual exploitation of vulnerable African-American women, and the drive towards sterilization — taking away the one thing that Hester truly owns. Fight and Intimacy Director Gaby Labotka helps to delicately navigate this brutal moment; and the production should be commended for valuing this position.”

• Sheri Flanders, PerfomInk [In the Blood]

“Gaby Labotka’s fight and intimacy choreography have incredible tonal variation, jumping between a family melee, invasive check-ups, and a vicious, unbearable murder with slops of blood.”

• Persephone Van Ort, NewCity [In the Blood]

“Intimacy designer Gaby Labotka ( assisted by Courtney Abbott ) creates a gorgeous and fully believable marital relationship, from the insatiable early days to the utter exhaustion of being parents coupled with desire. It's during the more intimate moments that we feel completely drawn into Richard and Sheryl's world, the ups that keep them together and the downs that may drive them apart”.

• Lauren Emily Whalen, Windy City Times [Don’t Smoke in Bed]