Kyle Rowling

Kyle Rowling is a professional Actor, Director, Weapons Master and Fight Director. He has twenty-five years experience in various Martial Arts including Chinese and Japanese styles and has been working as a Fight Director for over a decade. In that time he has trained, choreographed and performed Stage Combat for STC, Opera Australia, Ensemble Theatre, Belvoir St, Marion St, Bell Shakespeare, the David Atkins Group, Sydney Shakespeare Globe and many more. He also teaches and choreographs regularly at most of Sydney’s top acting institution including NIDA, VCA, the Actors College of Theatre and Television, the Actors Centre Australia and The Australian Theatre for Young People.

Kyle’s Stage Combat and performance skills have also secured him work in many theatre and film productions including Star Wars EP II and III as Christopher Lee’s fight double, Eric Bana’s personal weapons trainer for Troy, fight director and performer for the 2000 production of Pan at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre and the 2001 New York tour of STC's The White Devil. Kyle's CV and list of professional credits can be found here.

To contact Kyle click kyle@sydneystagecombat.com.

Lawrence Carmichael

Lawrence currently resides in the UK, however his commitment to Stage Combat and his contributions to the SSCS will never be forgotten. Thanks Mate, we miss you.

Actor, Singer, Fight Director. As a performer, Lawrence has worked professionally with a wide range of companies including QTC, National Stage Co., Strut & Fret, CUT Theatre & Harlos Productions. As Fight Director, Lawrence is fully qualified by the 'Society of Australian Fight Directors' with over 8 years experience in stage combat, excelling in most weapon styles as well as unarmed & slapstick.

Lawrence has taught and choreographed for many theatre & film companies including Sydney Theatre Company, Ensemble Theatre Co., David Atkins Productions, Opera Australia, NIDA, Theatre Nepean, The Australian Institute Of Music, CUT, Harlos, Blackdog & After Glow Prod.  Lawrence is also a respected acting coach, having taught for various institutes as well as running his own successful acting studio.

Patricia Cotter

Patricia is a professional actor, whose passion together with her combat training and drama teaching, is the 'classics'. Having played most of Shakespeare's gutsiest women, such as Juliet, Ophelia, Rosalind and many more for the Shakespeare by the Sea Company; she has also toured for two years with the Bell Shakespeare Company, on their production of The Comedy of Errors and for their Actors At Work program. Recently she has played nurse Ally on All Saints, and a bare-knuckled fighting Russian terrorist for the ABC's Double the Fist.

She is proficient in Rapier & Dagger, Quarterstaff, unarmed combat, broadsword etc. She is also a competent Harness Flyer (as performed in Pan at the Capitol Theatre as Wendy Darling.) She is currently performing as Thaisa in Cut Theatre's Queen Lere.

Michael Pentecost

Michael Pentecost has been a professional actor for the past 20-something years and has been involved in stage combat for pretty much all that time. He originally trained under the legendary John Waller in London, before crossing swords with Lawrence Carmichael in a Sydney production of King Lear several years ago and learning about the Sydney Stage Combat School. He is currently an Advanced stage combatant.

Nicole Verhoeven

Nicole graduated from UWS Theatre Nepean in 2003. A semester of unarmed combat in her second year of University led her to the SSCS. She received her Basic Certificate in June 2004 and her Intermediate in February 2005. She is now versed in the art of unarmed, rapier and dagger, single sword, sword and buckler and her favorites, quarter staff and French small sword. As a tutor at MYT, she is directing her first full length production Peter Pan. She is currently training for her Advanced Certificate and looks forward to once again ‘beating up the boys’. She is currently understudying Trish Cotter as Thaisa in Cut Theatre's production of Queen Lere.

Clive Hobson

Deciding to merge his passion for fencing and theatre, Clive Hobson began his stage combat training with the BASSC in London . After moving to Sydney in late 2004, he jumped at the opportunity to continue his studies with the Sydney Stage Combat School , his sights now firmly set on attaining his Advanced certification.

His theatre credits include roles in such diverse shows as Return to the Forbidden Planet, 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, West Side Story, Singing in the Rain, Crazy for you and Les Miserables.

Blake Wells

Blake Wells is a professional Actor and Stage Combatant who has been a member of the SSCS since 2005. Since that time he has excelled at most weapon systems and quickly became and integral part of the SSCS Demo Squad, working as a fight extra on shows such as Packed to the Rafters as well as various corporate functions and charity events.

Stage Combat has given him many exciting opportunities. Highlights so far include being an Assistant Fight Director on the second series of the AFI Award winning Double the Fist as well as assisting on Opera Australia's remounting of Carmen, although he will always have a soft spot for his work on the Rogue Traders film clip, "I Never Liked You Anyway" where he had the pleasure of working closely with the lovely Natalie Bassingthwaighte.Blake has recently completed filming for P.H.O.B.O.S, an independent feature, and appeared in the 2010 Sydney Fringe Festival production of Time. He is currently hard at work on several personal projects.

Murray Henstock

Murray Henstock is an accredited intermediate stage combatant having studied such weapons as Rapier (& accessories), Long Sword, Dueling Sword, Unarmed, Knife, Staff, Fantasy Sword, German Long Sword, I.33 Sword and Buckler, as well as techniques including; Fighting for Film and Hong Kong Fighting to name a few. Murray has performed as a stage combatant with the SSCS in such projects as the Australian TV program "Packed to the Rafters" and the Cumberland Industries Annual Awards presentation. Murray studied Kung Fu extensively at the Australian WuShu Sports Academy under Master Juliana Zhu learning both unarmed and armed techniques including Chinese Broadsword, Cudgel and Twin Melon Hammers. Murray achieved accreditation with the Australian Kung Fu WuShu Federation and the Martial Arts Industry Association as a Kung Fu instructor and won gold for Dual Weapons in the 2005 Oceania WuShu Competition. Murray is also an accomplished Fire Breather having founded the UNSW Circus Society and performed as a principle fire-breather in the 2000 Olympics opening and closing ceremonies.

David Glen

Currently studying international studies at Macquarie University, David is an Intermediate Certified stage combatant, with proficiencies in several weapons systems including Asian staff, Rapier and Dagger, Duelling sword along with some experience with Katana, German Long sword and I.33 Sword and Buckler along with Short Knife and Long Knife. David also has proficiency in various unarmed style including some Wu Shu and Kung Fu. David is currently Also studying Wing Chun Kung Fu at Grandmaster Jim Fung's International Wing Chun Academy. David Attended the International Order of the Sword and Pen Paddy Crean workshop in Banff where he learnt from some of the best instructors in the world. An active participant of the Drama Society at Macquarie University David is always looking to be able to utilise the stage combat skills he has learn in productions and is always looking for ways to improve his skills.