<p>What's this I hear about a trend in theater schools where they make students perform their monologues/scenes - completely naked? Can anyone shed some light on this? I heard Playwrights Horizons does this (lol hey danielle :-D) - what exactly is the purpose and, what if you completely disagree with this assignment?</p>
<p>Not sure where you heard that but I can assure you that it isn't true. :)</p>
<p>Good God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>i have hear taht in playwrights it is an optional exercise for the students to draw each other nude. not quite sure what point of it would be acting-wise...a friend of mine has a sister in that studio and apparently its true, but it IS optional. <em>shrug</em></p>
<p>Well at nyu it seems as if its kind of a right of passage. My s. posed in the nude for his playwrights class , but at experimental theater I think it's the norm. PS. My s. is so repressed I was amazed he could do it! It made me feel liberated!</p>
<p>I have a d going to NYU next year. If she were ever asked to pose nude, I would probably report the faculty member who suggested it.</p>
<p>I recently heard a story where Ron Howard's daughter was nude in a play for NYU. Ron was sitting with his father in the audience when Grandpa mentioned something about his grandaughter would never be afraid of acting on a stage after performing in the nude on one!</p>
<p>"When I was 19 at NYU I did a show that was so sexually and violently graphic. I was naked on stage for over half-an-hour and my parents saw it. The were like, 'Okay, it's rough but we know this is where you feel at home --talking about things no-one else wants to talk about.'"</p>
<p>I'm not sure if Bryce was talking about a Tisch show or just a show which she happened to do while a student at Tisch, it's not clear from that quote. She was in Adler so it's unlikely. If it had been ETW, it would be more likely. In any case, being cast in a show is very different than being asked to perform monologues while naked, which is what the original poster inquired about. That just doesn't happen. The kids who have posed naked in a PH class were volunteers, and it was a design class where there was sketching done. There are certainly shows which involve nudity onstage but not many which are being done by colleges.</p>
<p>my S was the one who posted the question about nudity because we had heard from a friend who is in Adler that they do this is PH. The way she explained it was that they felt by taking away your clothes and "your comfort zone", this would make you open up and be vulnerable and be the best actor you could be. In other words it was an excercise to make the actor open up and be more aware of his surroundings. I don't know if it was optional, but it freaked my S out and that is why he posted the question. He is considering PH and this may make the decision if it is true and not an option.</p>
<p>AudiB4, your son's friend is misinformed. Not unusual because this topic often gets misconstrued by other Tischies and the legends swirl. :) The nudity, as I said, is voluntary and is in a design class, where the students are sketching. It has nothing to do with monologues, or performing. It is definitely optional and he shouldn't allow this to alter his desire for the studio if that's what he's interested in. If he's still unsure, he can easily visit the NYU or Tisch livejournal communities and get further information straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.</p>
<p>a number of programs have run plays where the material required nudity...not unusual in a number of programs. It is always voluntary...</p>