All-female cast in Brooklyn stages nude production of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'
![(Photo: YouTube screenshot) (Photo: YouTube screenshot)](http://www.asianage.com/sites/default/files/images/dc-Cover-as721j3nmd1ndtf482d9dekl52-20160913100950.Medi_.jpeg)
The idea behind the free show is to use storytelling and theater to get its message of body positivity heard.
To be clothed, or not to be clothed That was a no-brainer for members of an all-female cast in Brooklyn who stripped down to celebrate their freedom of expression in a nude version of Shakespeare in the park.
The Torn Out Theater company of New York teamed up with The Outdoor Co-Ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society for the unique production of -"The Tempest,-" which completed its second set of performances in Brooklyn's Prospect Park on Saturday, following a spring run.
The idea behind the free show is to use storytelling and theater to get its message of body positivity heard.
-"It's an interesting thing to feel like I'm not only making a statement as an actor, getting to play an amazing part,-" said Gina Marie Russell, who played Prospero, the duke of Milan.
-"But I'm making a statement as a woman about female sexuality, female nudity and really trying to normalize that and make it non-sexual and non-threatening,-" she added.--
Director Pitr Strait said he was a little apprehensive about the play, but that everything went smoothly.
-"Even I was kind of nervous the first rehearsal and then within minutes I was like, this is normal - so normal that when we had an actor come on in clothes, she looked strange,-" Strait said.
The production company had to obtain permits in order to perform fully nude.
-"It was sort of like you could feel like a new chapter turning,-" said actress Reanna Roane, who played Ariel.
-"The first time was a nice gentle easy process into performing nude. We had nude rehearsals, we had a lot of cast-building rehearsals to build camaraderie and things like that so that by the time the show actually came, I didn't really care about nude or what people would think,-" added Roane. -"It felt really second nature.-"
-"Some people are a little weirded out, which is to be expected,-" added Strait. -"We knew that the show was going to shake things up and make people question certain things.-"
The reimagined play had no problem filling seats, with the audience including what Roane described -"as a lot of curious people.-"
-"For the most part, the response has been really loving and really giving,-" she said. -"What someone might think of someone being a creeper is really just someone going: 'Oh, I've never really seen that before.'-"