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UA administrators discuss on-stage nudity with students

A group of 40 students examined the difference between obscenity and artistic expression yesterday after auditions for the Brian C. Russo play, "Timepiece," sparked questions about on-stage nudity.

Donnalee Dox organized the panel of artists, directors, playwrights and lawyers. He said some students in the department felt uncomfortable with the play - specifically nude scenes in the play - but did not come forward to discuss the issue with professors or administrators.

The discussion focused on each panelists' opinions and experiences with obscenity in hopes of enlightening students struggling with their own ideologies concerning the subject.

Dox said the goal of this gathering was also to educate and give students a chance to open up.

"I want to help everybody be able to make their own decisions and to understand - it's about teaching and learning," Dox said.

According to Russo, different elements that make up a life - such as working, living, dying and sexual relations - are portrayed in the play as having distinct roles in the course of time.

In "Timepiece," there are three scenes containing nudity, two of which are partial and the other containing full frontal nudity.

Comprised of four members from the UA administration and national drama media, the event began with each panelists' own definition of obscenity and artistic expression.

Harold Dixon, artistic director at Arizona Repertory Theater, said the issue at hand was really free choice and knowing what is entailed for a given role - rather than being personally affected by the material.

"What is not entailed is what I may find personally offensive or personally acceptable," he said. "I am offended by sloth, stupidity, racism, bigotry, but that is all around me every day. The fact that I see something that is blatantly offensive to me does not necessarily give me the right to control that. The power I have is the power of whether to be involved in that."

Ken Foster, artistic director at UA's Centennial Hall, referenced the third part of the legal definition of obscenity.

"I have one key part of the definition memorized, it is the third test that always wins out for us as artists and that is 'utterly without redeeming social, artistic and literary value,'" Foster said. "By definition, a work of art has artistic value."

Visiting playwright Michael Wright encouraged students to voice their opinions if they disapprove of something.

"If you have an objection to what someone else is doing, please respond creatively," Wright said. "In other words, if you don't want to see a play you think is obscene, then write your own play that shows your ideas."

Wright also urged students to read or see the art in question before passing judgment.

Franzi Peteold, a student actress born in Germany and current resident of San Diego, said she could not understand why the students were offended.

She urged students to be comfortable with the human body, claiming that it is their only tool for acting.

"Nudity in general doesn't have to have sexual context. It's normal life - we have to deal with it," Peteold said.

Russo's play, "Timepiece," has no set opening date. Due to a "procedural error," Russo does not know whether it will be produced.