Castriota also had a weapon learning curve to scale. An expert tumbler, she had years of training as a high-school and college gymnast and later worked as a coach. After getting into stunt work, she learned how to do high falls, drive cars, and even light herself on fire, but she came to “Age of Heroes” with a beginner’s knowledge of swordsmanship. She says getting to the level she is at now “took a lot of literal blood, sweat, and tears” and that she continues to work on her technique every show — “but when I look at videos of myself on stage fighting, it totally paid off.”