Naked Men

by Greg Kalleres

April/May 2004
Brass Tacks Theatre Company
Rosetta Festival of New Works
Creative Place Theatre, NY

Director: Matt Schicker

Cast: Dan Roach, C.L. Weatherstone

What I’m Most Proud Of: This play was a challenge because it required nudity in a very small theater. The premise was two men – one shy, one a blowhard goombah-type – meet in a sauna and end up in a battle of wills. It was imporant to the plot that one of the characters drop his towel and show himself to the other man; however, the Creative Place Theatre has seating only a few feet from the actors, so going full-frontal didn’t seem like a good idea for the actor or the audience.

I was able to come up with a clever solution: I blocked the “moment of truth” when all was revealed so that it happened behind the upper part of the sauna “bench”, which happened to cover the actor’s mid-section. Disaster averted!

C.L. Weatherstone as Brad (left) and Dan Roach as Lyle.

Reviews and Quotes:

“Matt Schicker’s perky staging shrewdly eschews both cliché and gratuitousness.”
Martin Denton, nytheatre.com

“I thought you did a wonderful job directing Naked Men. It flowed, it was fun, and you got two fine performances. What could’ve easily been a one-note joke kept me interested and amused. It was by far my favorite show of the evening. Thanks for the laughter and the good work.”
Rich Orloff, playwright

C.L. Weatherstone as Brad (left) and Dan Roach as Lyle.