So our latest main stage show, Live Nude Improv, is an improvised take on modern, experimental theater… It features a few firsts for The Hideout: It’s in the round, it blurs the line between audience and performers (though only up to the level of comfort of the audience members), and oh, yes, there may well be nudity.
So why would a performer choose to be part of a show that could very well call for them to bare all? We asked the cast just that.
Question: Why the hell would you choose to be in this show?
“Because I wanted the opportunity to strip myself bare, physically and emotionally, to discover what’s underneath. To be visceral, to be volatile, to be vulnerable…”
The concept of vulnerability has been cropping up a lot lately in discussions about improv. When teaching early levels of classes, half of what we do is helping students to drop their guards — to be willing to make fools of themselves, to be playful, to take risks… in short, to be vulnerable.
“I chose to do this show because it terrified me. Both the idea of not really knowing what the show was going to be and being naked in front of strangers. I blindly assumed the show would be all about sex, and that really turned me away from auditioning. I am very modest, especially about sexuality, and had no interest in being naked and touching my friends.
After auditions, I heard that there was a few spots open, and talked to a few cast members about what the show was becoming. It sounded like a wonderful experience. They talked about what they were doing in rehearsal and outside of rehearsal, and how close the cast members were becoming with each other to build a safe environment. Nothing was mentioned about touching or make out sessions, and when I asked about the physical stuff, they stopped me dead in my tracks and emphasized that being sexual was not the goal of the show. The goal was not to get naked and play a game of chicken in front of an audience. The goal was (from what I gathered) to do a new form of theater, and to take a risk. To have a different relationship with the audience.
I talked to the director, and he said I should come in and rehearse with them. My curiosity drove me to rehearsal the next week, and it was honestly the most comfortable I’ve ever felt in a rehearsal. I was way more comfortable than I thought I would be in the photo shoot, as well. I decided to do the show because I wanted to try something new, something that had never been done before. I wanted to push past my comfort level and see where it would take me. I hope to be more “in the moment” on stage, and I hope to change some of the habits I’ve fallen in to.
Even if at the end I learn nothing, I can at least say I tried something incredibly difficult for myself that I never thought I would do.”
That’s the real challenge of this show, to use the potential for nudity as a tool to heighten situations and relationships, and not as a mere gimmick.
Will we always succeed at that lofty goal? Who knows, but part of what we strive for with improv is to always be willing to take a risk (as noted in the quote above) not for the sake of being edgy or whatever, but because improv works best when it is on the edge of failure. If it is too safe then the life and vitality goes right out of it.
Granted, you don’t have to strip your clothes off to get to that point, but it is one (mostly unexplored) avenue to get there.
“Apart from my Teutonic proclivity to being naked in public I was intrigued by the idea of how this experience would meld the cast together.
After performing in Dusk (improv based on the Twilight series) there was already an immense sense of trust – after making out and taking your shirt off on stage, what could go wrong? Then came Showdown, which added the intimacy of violence – we insulted, shot, stabbed and beat each other up on stage. That lead to even more trust and being comfortable with physicality and each other. Live Nude Improv seemed to be the next step – being vulnerable and exposed on stage, but at the same time knowing that the others have your back. So far the rehearsal process has been awesome and I think it will be a very memorable show.”
Trust is another crucial concept in improv. With our main stage shows, we often only have about a month and a half of weekly rehearsals for the performers to bond with one another and to learn to trust each other. With Live Nude Improv in particular, trust can make or break the show. If the performers don’t feel supported, then they’ll hesitate to push the show in the direction it needs to go. Fortunately the rehearsals have been going very well, and the cast is super connected.
“My first ever kiss was on stage back when I was a sophomore in high school. It was not a pretty sight. Me sweating, not knowing what to do, and also thinking this guy is a goober!
From then on I vowed that I would try to become comfortable in every way on stage. I think the rest of the cast has been on the same level with me. Wanting to be committed, passionate and sensible. Live Nude Improv is the perfect show to challenge myself and others. Lets do this!”
So why the hell have these performers chosen to be in Live Nude Improv?
It’s a challenge. It’s unexplored territory. It makes them vulnerable, putting them right on the edge of failure, with only the trust and commitment of their fellow performers to keep them afloat.
In short, it puts them in a very good place to create some memorable improv.
The show runs Saturdays in July and August at 8pm. Tickets can be purchased here.
I went to the first week’s show. though I liked the atmosphere and the characters alot I found he nudity a bit abrupt which happened towards the end. It’s was sort of like “we could not bring the improvisation to fruition with nudity an organic part of it, lets take off the clothes and give the audience what they are waiting for.” That said, I can also understand that the genre is quite new and improvisation is very hard (well, in the end improvisation needs some repetition, too). Also, while the concept is highly sophisticated (nudity in public space) i did not like that fact that the narrative was quite trite [read also conservative] (sexual awakening of Daisy (daughter of a well-to-do engineer) with the underclass fisherman). One last thing; Even though I am impressed with the performers’ bodies (!) I would have liked it much more if the nudity was detached from the act of sex! (well, which would make it a bit more a la French)
AFS
I attended the show last night and have to say I was a bit disappointed once again to see the missed opportunities to show the audience what they came for – Live Nude Improv. I have been to see several shows this season and most nudity came at the end presented as an after thought. However, with that being said all was not lost due to the improv of an audience member that stood up and proudly suggested that the director shed his clothes with a revised script reading as such. I believe the audience was shocked, the cast was surprised and delighted and the director didn’t know what to do. Without too much hesitation he leaves the room and several minutes later returns to the room completely nude. At last, real NUDE improv. Everyone believed a cast member put this audience member up to this and more shock and surprised only to learn this was all the audience members own doing. Rehearsed and scripted from week to week but no one saw this coming. By far, best show of the entire season. Way to go rock, paper, scissor winner. We want to see you on stage next time!
Speaking as the naked director, the nakedness was definitely a huge experiment and risk for us. In some of the shows it was “presented as an afterthought” or in a forced manner in order to fulfill the implied contract of nakedness for a paying audience. Other shows it was full on throughout the performance and built into the story elegantly and organically. Over the course of the run, every single member of our 11-person cast was fully naked at some point.
I thought the surprise audience participation in the final show was pretty fantastic as well.
: )
As the audience member that stood up and requested the director strip down and encourage the other cast members, I was pleased to see him comply and remain naked for the entire performance. I was a bit disappointed that there was not more spontaneous nudity throughout the performance. My entire reason for challenging the director was purely for improv purposes, knowing he would be somewhat blindsided. I had several scenarios planned but this played right into the dialog of pushing the cast to go the extra mile. I was ready to jump right in if that is what it took to get some unplanned action going, but Andy played it perfectly (and fearlessly) as requested.
Hopefully, there will be more of these shows in the future as I have some cool ideas of how to get more unplanned responses from the cast and even from audience members who are willing to expand their boundries.
Thanks, Andy, for being a great director that truly leads by example. Looking forward to bringing this improv series back to the stage.