Quote:
Originally Posted by meg2001
Part of me wants a role in an edgy drama where I have dialogue and character development. Acting is the reason I got involved in this group to begin with. But so far the plays we’ve looked at are too tepid. This is where I ask for your help - if you guys know of any really edgy, boundary pushing plays, I would love to hear about them. I think our troupe has developed a bit of a shock reputation, which we like, but it seems hard to find material out there to perform.
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Meg
My top suggestion would be "A Thought in Three Parts" by Wallace Shawn. Proper writing from a well-known playwright, but denounced in Parliament after protests when put on at London's Royal Court Theatre in the 1970s, and I think it has only been performed once since in the UK. I went to that revival, by a student group at Battersea Arts Centre in 2002; it remains easily the most explicit piece of quality theatre I have seen on stage (with one exception, which is another story).
The long second act - the majority of the play - involves a prolonged orgy of sexual experimentation among four students in a hostel dormitory. There's no way of portraying it demurely - the actors are naked from the moment the exceedingly shy Bob manages to ask Judy to undress and masturbate for him. But you can decide how far to push the boundaries: at Battersea it was half-under, half-on top of the bedcovers, but I think the scene where Helen invites the two boys to compete to see how high up her chest they can squirt was probably faked... There are reviews online of more recent productions by Rubber Repertory in Austin and Yale University which will give you a good idea.
In return, can I ask how the nudity in your own production was first broached? How did you or Lucy decide which of you was going to be the naked female? Was Lucy disappointed or relieved? Or was the nudity only decided on once you'd taken the role - in which case was it your idea, or did someone pluck up the courage to ask you - or just try stripping you? Was the request matter-of-fact or a big deal; your choice, or something expected of you as an actor? How did you and the group react to the knowledge that they were going to see their friend naked for the first time?
Jobin