# Stage plays that feature nudity **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193 "2009-12-14T05:30:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/1 "2009-12-14T05:30:16Z")
The obvious answer is _Naked Boys Singing_, and _EQUUS_ is probably the most famous due to Daniel Radcliffe’s getting naked in the London and later Broadway productions. What are some others that feature “live on stage nekkid” scenes? Some that I know of, though individual productions often opt to either use ‘nude suits’ or thongs or otherwise work around it: _Hair_- usually in the ‘Be In’ song _Take Me Out_- a comedy drama about a baseball player who comes out of the closet; features shower scenes. (The most surprising thing about this one is that I’ve seen a couple of college productions of it where the unpaid actors went full monty, speaking of-) _Full Monty_ (but only for a second at the end) _O Calcutta_- there are pics of the 1970s production that feature a naked Bill Macy, later the husband ‘Walter’ on MAUDE. Really disturbing; some people you don’t wanna see nekkid. What are some others? ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/2 "2009-12-14T05:47:46Z")
The Little Dog Laughed- I only know this because the nudity involved Johnny Galecki of The Big Bang Theory. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/3 "2009-12-14T06:54:39Z")
“A Cry from Heaven” is an obscure-but-rather-good retelling of the story of Dierdre from the Ulster Cycle of Irish myth. AFAIK, it’s only been produced for one run at the Abby Theatre in Dublin in '05, and I was lucky to catch it. There are two mute characters portrayed by nude males wearing bull masks. Interesting use of nudity since there’s no sexuality implied nor is there any specific need for the nudity, but I suspect it was intended to emphasize the pagan nature of the story. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/4 "2009-12-14T07:16:48Z")
The current remake of _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_ has Anna Friel appearing nude on stage. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/5 "2009-12-14T07:32:21Z")
> [@Leiko](#): > > The Little Dog Laughed- I only know this because the nudity involved Johnny Galecki of The Big Bang Theory. AKA “the reason Johnny Galecki is frontally nude all over the Internet”. And proof he’s ahem, grown, as an actor since Roseanne:D ---
**Author:** ![There\_is\_no\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@There\_is\_no\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/There_is_no_God)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/6 "2009-12-14T07:48:44Z")
Off the top of my head, I can only think of one: _The Elephant Man:_ Mrs. Kendal is nude, although she is generally placed with her back to the audience. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/7 "2009-12-14T12:00:06Z")
Puppetry of the Penis has nudity, obviousy. Not really a play though, it’s two guys on stage twisting their cranks around. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/8 "2009-12-14T12:21:53Z")
Back in 1993, _Rope_ was produced in Chichester UK. The play, loosely inspired by Leopold & Loeb, had been given a polite film treatment in a 1948 Hitchcock production. [The 1993 production](http://www.betsyda.com/denisof/items/adrope.html#reviews) starred John Barrowman, Alexis Denisof & Anthony Head & did not shilly-shally: “taking a thoroughly modern line with the homoerotic subtext which, in Barrowman and Denisof’s committed performances, becomes overt lust.” Although not officially part of the play, this production evidently began with an artistically lit nude scene. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/9 "2009-12-14T12:47:18Z")
Doug Wright’s off-Broadway play _Quills_– the actor playing the Marquis de Sade spends much of the play naked. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/10 "2009-12-14T14:19:06Z")
There’s semi-nudity during the scene between Wendla and Melchior at the end of Act 1 of **Spring Awakening.** ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/11 "2009-12-14T14:21:03Z")
The lead character in [Wit](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wit_(play)) appears nude at the end of the play, as the spirit released from her dead body. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/12 "2009-12-14T14:29:52Z")
M Butterfly, by David Henry Hwang. The show has probably been spoiled for you long before I came along, but there is a moment in the piece where it is absolutely necessary to the plot that someone be naked onstage, however briefly. I shall say no more, except to caution that the Wiki site gives the game away in the first sentence, and therefore the show is spoiled even by searching for it in Google. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/13 "2009-12-14T14:32:41Z")
There was the play where Nicole Kidman was starkers from behind…there was much buzz about the quality of her…assets. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/14 "2009-12-14T14:34:20Z")
Wasn’t it news a few years ago when Nicole Kidman was naked in The Blue Room? _edit_ darn, posted at the same time as Wordman! ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/15 "2009-12-14T14:35:33Z")
The stage production of “The Graduate” we saw a few years back featured a nude Lorainne Bracco. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/16 "2009-12-14T14:41:44Z")
**The Hot L Baltimore** ends the second act with a woman completely nude – with nothing to hide her. I saw it that way at a local production and judging by the script, it probably played that way when first performed. I’m not sure if there was any actual nudity in the Broadway version of “You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running,” though the plot involves an actor who is required to appear nude on stage. **Avenue Q** has naked puppets screwing on stage. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/17 "2009-12-14T15:01:51Z")
Godspell - although these days the college productions often use diffused lighting or shear fabric to obscure details. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/18 "2009-12-14T15:03:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Godspell - although these days the college productions often use diffused lighting or shear fabric to obscure details. ??? I saw Godspell back in the 1970s, on a major stage in Boston. There was no nudity. I’ve never heard of nudity in **Godspell**. It would seem to go against the basic setting and theme. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/19 "2009-12-14T15:18:00Z")
I may have it confused with Hair. I saw several counterculture plays in the 70’s. They’ve blurred together over the years. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/20 "2009-12-14T15:30:41Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > ??? > I saw Godspell back in the 1970s, on a major stage in Boston. There was no nudity. I’ve never heard of nudity in **Godspell**. It would seem to go against the basic setting and theme. Godspell is known for it’s [openness to interpretation](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Godspell). It has been set everywhere from hippie communes to preppie academies, from [big cities](http://losangeles.broadwayworld.com/article/Covina_Center_Presents_GODSPELL_626_Thru_82_20090617) to [junk yards](http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091119/ENTERTAINMENT/911190311). The particular adaptation that the poster might have seen (the nude one) was perhaps a more “Garden of Eden” type setting than the 70s hipster setting you may have seen. I think every time I’ve seen it, it’s been set in a different place and style. The show is supposed to do that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193.md?page=2)