The most recent Royal Opera production of Richard Strauss's Salome featured a naked executioner. If you didn't know the story, King Herod agreed to Salome's wish, in return her dance (Dance of the Seven Veils). At the end of the dance, the naked Salome demanded the head of St John the Baptist on a platter. The executioner appeared on stage, fully naked with butt facing the audience for a good 20 minutes before he descended to the cistern, severed the head, and brought it up. He remained naked on stage, standing proud until the end of the opera. Depending on the seating, some members of the audience would have been able to see the front and the back of the executioner, who sported unusually long foreskin.
You can see more about the production here https://www.roh.org.uk/productions/salome-by-david-mcvicar
Do you remember the opening scene in Basic Instinct. The film opens with naked sex, the victim being tied to the bed head by a silk scarf. Later the suspect is shown changing into a thin dress ready for interrogation. It is clear that the dress is all she is wearing. And during the interrogation she (Sharon Stone) overtly flashes at the camera by slowly uncrossing and re-crossing her legs.
The original Calendar Girls were from a Women's Institute in the Yorkshire Dales near my home. I bought a calendar from Miss July, who autographed it for me. The intention was to pay for a visitor's settee in the ward where one of the ladies' husband died of cancer. The calendar sales went astronomical ( Women's Institute members just don't get naked, do they). It funded many more facilities for that hospital. The story was made into a film and a play. I actually stage managed an armature production of that play. All the female cast were naked for the calendar photoshoot just after the interval.
I was disappointed by the shortlived nudity in Hair. When it first came out the play caused a major stir - any form of stage nudity was fairly unknown at that time. By the time I saw it stage nudity was commonplace. The twist for this performance was that the entire audience was naked throughout. And we stayed nude in the interval and for after-performance drinks, chatting to the performers. I met some new nudist friends there. Then I walked back to my central London hotel wearing only my overcoat.
Has anyone seen the live production of Syrtaki Jan Febre Mount Olympus. I watched a video of this on Youtube and the movements by the male dancers were tribal and raw without really being blatantly erotic. The men were in total conntrol and must have been carefully chosen for their physique, flexibility and apparent visibility of their manhood.
Last November I played a part in an experimental performance piece as part of a big theatre festival. I played a massage therapist and was naked throughout. It was not performed on stage but in the real world, a concept called "immersive theatre". The main character met the (very small) audiences at an agreed place and walked through the city doing various things. One part was calling a massage boy and booking a massage at the massage boy's room (a tiny-tiny room which had been rented for the purpose).
I would wait there for him and open the door already fully naked. I'd then take him inside (audience following and taking prepared seats), take off all his clothes, giving him a shower, then a massage on the bed. He'd be in a sort of unconscious state of trance and would only wake up when during the massage I massage/jerk our penises against each other in an attempt to get him off. He'd stop that action and some interesting play ensues, leading to the discovery of love.
We had 4 shows which were very well received (not only for this scene, but also other rather creative part of the performance), including by a real Buddhist st monk, who even came to see it twice.
It was an interesting experience, and my first one ever as an actor.
"I saw Barely Proper performed a couple of decades ago at an Eastern Naturist Gathering. I think the play was originally intended to introduce nudism to a clothed audience. A nudist camp on the east coast of the US used to perform it weekly to an audience made up of city folks spending a weekend in the country"
I played the role of Derick Leet (lead) in the play "Barely Proper" at the Ponderosa Sun Club in Roselawn, Indiana back in the 1970s. It was my first time on stage as an adult and quite an experience. We were all quite nervous at first. Performing nude in front of a clothed audience was not a problem. Our only concern was that we remembered our lines and put on a good performance for a paying audience.
It was a life changing for me as I lost my basic shyness and gained a great deal of self confidence. I never had another nude part but when on to appear in community theater and even took professional acting lessons.
Would I do it again? Does anyone out there have a nude part for an 80 year old man? Message me!!!
At last years Hollywood Fringe Festival our Non-landed club, the Southern California Naturist Association, and AANR-West sponsored the production of an updated version of "Barely Proper" that we called "Disrobed-Why So Clothes-Minded". The adaptation was written by Steven Vlasak, and the play was directed by Brian Knudson. Besides the entire cast being nude for a good portion of the play, the audience was required to be nude also. For each performance, fully one quarter to one third of each audience had their first time being socially nude. It was nominated for, but did not win "Best Immersive Show".
We also sponsor Nude Comedy Shows at a local small theatre in which the audience is also required to be nude in addition to the stand-up comics.
While not entirely nude, we also loved Emma Powell and Mandi Lodge's show "Busting Out" in which they made fun of our collective obsession with breasts ala "Puppetry of the Penis".
I have, actually. There was a one-woman show I saw once, where the actress put on numerous costumes throughout the play, and finally said, "There's one outfit you haven't seen yet", and then the rest of the play was done nude, and was actually humourous. Here in Calgary, Canada, we have a good and innovative live theatre scene, and there is a lot more nudity on stage than one might think.
My son's college did The Full Monty. His girlfriend had a small part in it. (I can say that about a female without worrying about a second possible meaning). I saw it. My wife did not. Seeing some of our son's classmates nude on stage was not on her to do list. Wasn't really on mine either but I went and enjoyed the show.
I'm a retired theatre teacher and I've started my own theatre company. There are several guys in out men's nude clubs that want me to do a play with an all nude male cast. They don't seem to understand how that works in theatre. I am not against nudity on stage but it has to be justified. To have naked men onstage just to have naked men is gratuitous and serves no theatrical purpose. I do like the idea of a production with all nude men because by the first 10 minutes the audience doesn't see it. If you've ever seen the movie Prospero's Books you know what I mean. Everyone is nude and when a dressed actor (Mark Rylance) comes on stage later in the movie, it's shocking.I've seen Take Me Out on Broadway and by a local amateur group. The Broadway production was wonderful but the local, not so much. The director failed to tell the actors who would be nude to stop shaving their bodies. Professional baseball players have body and pubic hair! I've also seen Equus several times, the most recent with Daniel Radcliff. It's one of my favorite plays and DR did a great job! He looked nice naked, too. The reception of the nudity was a total opposite of the nudity in the original Broadway tour that I saw in Cincinnati. When the actor got naked the audience was suddenly pulled out of the play and were aware of a naked man on stage, not a character being stripped to his essence. I love Polobulus' nude work.So, does anyone have suggestions of plays the could be done with total nudity?
Were you aware that Daniel Radcliffe was 16 or 17 when the London production opened and they had to wait until he turned 18 to bring it to the USA?
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