Megan had never directed a sex scene, but she was an experienced fight choreographer, which she assured us was the same thing. I was hoping that this show - written by, directed by and featuring funny women - would be able to bridge that gap. What’s more, things generally aren’t funny and sexy simultaneously, as if those two parts of the brain can’t fire together. “I’ll have what she’s having” was the joke. And when women act sexy, at best they are set-ups for punchlines: Meg Ryan’s extended fauxgasm in “When Harry Met Sally” wasn’t the joke it was the tension-building prelude. For better or worse, there is a cultural seriousness to female nudity. Women’s bodies are almost never a punchline the way men’s can be. In our culture, women’s sexuality doesn’t tend to be funny. I wanted this role, for all the reasons above, and one more: I am interested in exploring where funny and sexy intersect. I could still chicken out, but it would be that: chickening out.
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Megan said that the show would be funny and fun, not exploitative that she wouldn’t let me look stupid or slutty - so I told her I’d trust her and would do anything the show needed. So when the director, Megan Behm, asked me what I’d be comfortable with, I didn’t want to be the limiting factor, the one who wasn’t willing to go all out - the reason the scene would ring false.
#Naked onstage how to#
There are hundreds of ways of staging the application of a condom without being pornographic - heck, the whole scene could take place in pitch dark - but a lot of those solutions will vaguely disappoint the audience, who will conclude we couldn’t figure out how to fake it cleverly, or we didn’t have the courage to go further with it.īut nudity isn’t faked. Good luck staging this.”Īs with that stage direction, every script is a challenge, and every production, an answer to it. The play contains stage directions such as: “She puts the condom on him. When we did a test reading for an audience, the producer noticed couples snuggling closer as the sex scene progressed, even though we were just standing there, fully clothed, reading from scripts. It was written by my friend and Washington Post colleague Alexandra Petri - stuff no one else is saying about young people’s relationships. It was called The Campsite Rule, after columnist Dan Savage’s advice for older or more experienced persons in sexual relationships with mentees: Leave them better than you found them. The premise was that a woman at her sixth college reunion starts up a relationship with a virginal 18-year-old freshman, and awkwardness ensues.
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I really wanted the part, the lead in a sexy comedic romance between two brainy people more comfortable quipping than feeling, just like everyone I know. Sex delivered badly onstage is just as depressing as sex done badly in real life, exponentiated by the presence of an audience. Despite my apprehensions - how my body would look, how the role would change the way people perceive me, in theatre and in real life - my biggest concern was the potential for lameness. WASHINGTON - I’ve been a stage actor for 10 years, but this summer was the first time I’ve ever considered taking a role with sex scenes and nudity.