[uvm2019]

Originally Posted by Jobin

Just seen the best stage nudity in London since Trilogy. AbiXgail CastXleton is the eponymous heroine in Lady ChatXterley with BluXe OranXge Theatre Company.

The first half is the teaser: she undresses to Victorian knickers in front of a mirror, and is then jostled for a couple of minutes topless by a group of women right in front of the audience.

For the second half she is completely naked for all but about five minutes - about 45 minutes in total. After undressing to have slow passionate sex with Mellors (which continues as other scenes play elsewhere on the stage), she then chats with Mellors for ages in full light, sitting unself-consciously on the bed, then stretched out full-frontal lying on her side, then kneeling and standing; raises herself up in front of the audience with arms wide to describe how she presented herself to men; stands back to the audience looking out of the window; runs around the stage in a thunderstorm (at one point she hurdled a table running towards me, legs akimbo, and landed almost in my lap); is picked up by Mellors and hurled around; and finally lies naked on the floor, about a metre max from the front row, while Mellors lays flowers on her body, opening her legs and inserting the final forget-me-not herself.

She also talks about her nudity in other scenes, describing the joy of running around with no clothes on; and discusses her "Lady Jane" as she is inserting flowers into it. The (female) director describes in the programme how she decided the nudity had to be "real, not lies; representing sensuality with its strongest quality: lack of self-awareness, free from the burden of dictated artificiality". That's exactly it: AbiXgail makes no attempt to position her limbs or cover herself differently just because she is naked.

Her acting is genuinely superb throughout and from her bio she doesn't appear ever to have done any nudity before - mainly Shakespeare and young people's theatre. I've no idea why she decided to take on this role. Be aware the production is a serious, well-directed affair with a respectful audience, which has been touring 17 fringe theatres of the UK. I'm afraid I saw it on its final leg at the CocXkpit Theatre London - a small theatre where you are at the same level as the actors and very close. There is only one performance left tomorrow, but tonight was far from full so there may be tickets. In case it's not obvious, the actor playing Mellors is similarly unencumbered by clothes throughout the second half.

Jobin

Can you describe her naked body - breasts, butt, and pussy (including labia, since she spread her legs) in particular? Did she have pubic hair?