For classical, my suggestion would be Carmina Burana by Carl Orf but you might need to do some editing to remove the softer sections, if you want more of an impact. Otherwise, allow it to
build up into the climax.
Modern – Smack my ***** up by The
Prodigy springs to mind as an in your
face type of number. Although, it my be inappropriate.
Whilst I like Eye of the Tiger, I think it tends to be a
bit overdone and people almost expect to hear it when a fight scene occurs.
Another thing that has just occurred to me is the use of lighting also. I am not familiar with the
play but a few years ago I was in Caen and visited a war museum (Caen was one of the landing points in Normandy during WWII) and they showed actual footage taken during the landing. There was some strobing FX, not a lot, just subtle that actually made you feel like there were shells exploding around you. Next, they played footage from
German cameras but placed it next to the Allied footage. The
effect was astounding; as you didn’t know where to look (did you watch the footage on the left or the right). I think it was the closest you could come to imagine the confusion that these soldiers faced. I spoke to a lot of people as we left that section of the exhibit and some were veterans, who had made the trip back to celebrate the 50th anniversary of D-day and they said it seemed all too real to them. Some were crying, some looked very pale.
Now I know it is not
practical to duplicate the fight scene but I wonder how you plan to use your lighting to bring the audience into the fight, to make them feel a
bit on
edge – if at all. I think the fact that the footage was in black and white also made it more dramatic as it was sometimes difficult to distinguish between sides. I guess it depends upon whether your fight scene is a dramatic struggle in which you want the audience to worry about who will win or an uplifting underdog beating a repressive force in the comic/Hollywood hero style, which would
call for a different look and feel.
Probably didn’t help too much but just some ideas that came to mind.