For the last three nights, our all-female, fully nude production of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest has played to sold-out houses in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. (Well, tickets are free, so maybe “sold out” isn’t precisely the right phrase. But packed houses. Standing room only. Let’s call it that.)
Tonight — Saturday, September 10, 2016 — is your last chance to see the show. If you’re in New York and at all curious, we encourage you to come.
The show is different in Brooklyn than it was in Central Park in May. The performance space is less isolated, so random pedestrians walking by are more likely to stumble across a mystifying and magical scene. The bulk of the audience is watching from an elevated pagoda, and the lawn before it is flat, reversing the earlier dynamics (in Central Park, most audience members sat on the ground and the stage had a variety of vertical levels). And two new actresses, one new dancer and a new pair of musicians have joined the cast, appearing in new costumes and new body paint.
But the script is the same — the same timeless fable of exile and liberation, of vengeance melting into forgiveness, told in some of the most beautiful verse ever crafted. And once again we celebrate the female body in all its variety and wondrous versatility. Our cast displays tenderness, rage, horror. wonder, despair, elation — the full range of human experience, giving the lie to the premise that a naked women conveys only one thing: sexuality.
Come join us tonight and see Prospero and Miranda, a sorcerer and his daughter–
Ariel, spirit queen of the magic isle–
Ferdinand, boy prince, thought orphaned–
Alsonso, King of Naples, and his loyal retainer, the good lord Gonzalo–
Sebastian and Antonio, conniving conspirators–
And the other spirits in attendance–
See love blossom,
and ripen
See perfidy punished
and virtue rewarded
See magic abjured
and captivity…prolonged?
See it all, before it vanishes into air — into thin air…
I must say, as a life long naturist, I sure admire your courage, all of you, and as a priest of the Mother, I sure admire your many, varied, feminine forms. Thank you for helping us as a culture grow more comfortable with these beautiful bodies we’ve been given. Keep up the good work (good fun).
It’s really a pity that we have missed the chance as we are again back in Italy ! Regards from the seaside (of course nude sunbathing )
Excellent
It is a Very wonderful show. I think they should allow you girls walk around naked wherever in public
You are such stuff as dreams are made on! 🙂
“I’m attracted to the boldness of women who do not wear bras. Women with wild hair and bare feet. Women who shake the earth with their gentleness. Spirited women who run with wolves and sleep with lambs. Women who dance on water and lift their skirts high over their heads to catch the wind. Women who kiss with their eyes and see with their kisses and make love with their smiles and smile with their laughter. Women who speak softly and listen loudly and say what they mean and mean what they say and do what they do because they can do what they do. Yes, I am attracted to the boldness of women who do not wear bras and dare to be or not to be.”
Beautiful women and literature. What a combination. Yes, you women rock the earth. Gail
Love those masks – kind of connects us not just to Shakespeare but the great Greek dramatists!
Keep this up, please?
So will you do another Shakespeare nude in a park next summer?
We haven’t decided yet. Maybe — or maybe we’ll do something different next time, variety being the spice of life.
Saw it in both places. Enjoyed the audience having to move during the performance at Summit Rock; The music pagoda felt more casual though (aside from the sadly necessary photo-creeper patrol crew). The cast change was hardly noticeable since, really, everyone was good. Was also happy to see the donation baskets come out this time around, I’m sure all contributions were well deserved. Congrats on a successful run!
You even made the news in the Netherlands:
http://nos.nl/artikel/2131803-shakespeare-opvoeren-in-je-nakie-is-in-brooklyn-heel-normaal.html
It even has a little uncensored video as well and is a rather positive piece.
Translation of the headline:
Doing Shakespeare in the nude is normal in Brooklyn.
As a nudist couple we found this very delightful. It’s also refreshing to see that full and complete frontal female nudity was on display here ! A terrific opportunity for those willing to express that freedom and liberation. It’s amazing that this was performed in public when we don’t even see this much freedom of nudity in movies or TV programing. From the video clip we saw the talent level of the performers was also quite nice. This was outstanding and we would think somewhat groundbreaking. We open you continue to broaden your horizons and open the eyes of others.
Please make a DVD available for those who could not fly to JFK by Sept 10 (and actually, today is Sept 16). It looks like you did great. Please distribute your play.
I’m afraid we can’t do that, for a variety of reasons. But hopefully we’ll have a future production you will be able to attend!
So sorry I missed this. I even passed through New York while it was on. But I couldn’t stop. Just had to rush from one vehicle to another without delay. Maybe next summer…
I love nudity (being nude & being nude with others), I love women & I love Shakespeare! I wish I had seen this production.
Whatever we can do burdened by wearing clothes is just more fun in the nude!