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Theater students label playwright's work vulgar

A play written by a UA theater arts graduate student has prompted some theater arts students to question both the artistic value of nudity and the purpose of the sexually graphic scenes in the production.

Some students complained after last week's auditions that the scripted nudity for Brian Russo's 15-minute "Timepiece" was tasteless and obscene.

"At first, at the auditions, they said how it was a beautiful scene and tasteful," said Adam Krantz, a musical theater freshman. "If they would have said, 'are you willing to be on stage fornicating with a rubber doll' - those are two very different extremes."

Russo acknowledged that the play includes at least three scenes with full and partial frontal nudity, which include simulated sex scenes between actors and blow-up dolls.

Both Adam Krantz and his brother Ned Krantz, a stage management senior and historian for the theater honorary, Theta Alpha Phi, attended the play auditions and said Russo and director Ray Cardi misled the people auditioning.

"I have trouble understanding why they wouldn't tell the actors what was actually expected," said Adam Krantz, who auditioned but was not cast in the play because of a scheduling conflict. "I am not trying to judge his (Russo's) work, but it's like they were trying too much to persuade the actors without them knowing anything about it."

Koryie Harvey, a theater arts freshman, was cast in a nude role but decided to leave the production after reading the script.

"My understanding was that I was going to get a part where I just take off my clothes," she said. "But the characters do sexually suggestive acts with objects, and I didn't want to be affiliated. It was vulgar."

While Harvey said she does not find all performance nudity improper, she said the scenes in the play were offensive.

"I have no problem with being nude," said Harvey. "If I do a play where I am nude, then I want it to be beautiful and abstract, and I don't think this is."

Despite the student objections, Russo said the work is a form of artistic expression and should not be censored.

"I am not a pornographer," Russo said. "For those who would consider it obscene, I ask them to read the play, to see the play and to come with an open mind. Obscene means without artistic merit, and I feel (the play) has it."

After writing, acting and directing in the professional theater for several years, Russo said he did not expect such a reaction to his work.

"This outcry has been somewhat surprising," he said.

Russo said the play was inspired by a book on dramatic theory that discussed the different elements of theater.

"The play is situations of human beings dealing with time - and part is our sexual relationship to time - but it is a part of a much bigger theme," he said.

Some audition observers said that because of the questionable nude scenes, students auditioning should have been properly informed of what to expect.

"At the initial auditions, the director and writer did not tell them what it entailed," said Ned Krantz, who is directing another play that will be shown with "Timepiece." "With a play of this nature, they should have had a copy there and told people what the play included."

Ned Krantz said few people hesitated to participate because Cardi assured the actors that the nude scenes would not be gratuitous.

"The writer and director said it would be very tasteful, that the nudity was necessary to the script, that actors would have something to cover themselves and that the nudity would only be in a scene or two," he said.

Cardi said the questionable scenes hold a minor position in the play.

"These are quick, short scenes and they will be directed subtly and low-lit," he said. "It is not in-your-face theater."

Several students, including Harvey, said they were concerned that if they spoke out against the production, their standing in the department might be jeopardized.

"The people that watch this - faculty that I audition for my BFA (bachelor of fine arts) with - will remember me as that girl in 'Timepiece,'" Harvey said. "It might have created a bias when I did auditions."

Donnalee Dox, head of the theater arts workshop committee, said the department did not pressure any students to participate in the project.

"If people find it objectionable, then they cannot be a part of it as a free choice," she said. "No one is required to be part of this production."

Questions were also raised concerning the appropriateness of the play in regards to the venue.

"It isn't the kind of thing that should be performed at a university with students," Ned Krantz said.

Angie Kamel, producer of "Timepiece," said the play is tasteful and is appropriate for students to participate in and watch.

"The obscenity is something I took into consideration, but I did not expect this kind of response," she said. "People I know in this area are open to new ideas."

Kamel, a theater arts senior, is producing the 15-minute play with the Underground Theater Group.

The group is sponsored by Theta Alpha Phi to give an opportunity for students to write plays and have them produced within the workshop space of the theater arts department. Student performers and contributors do not have to be theater arts students.

"The Underground Theater Group takes more chances," Cardi said. "They produce original pieces, works that are a little more questionable, instead of Neil Simon plays and musicals."

Kamel, who has worked with the group in the past, said that because the plays produced by the group tend to be more edgy, the people involved are aware of the issues.

However, she welcomed the debate over nudity as a positive aspect of the performing arts.

"I'm happy that (the controversy) happened," she said. "It has created a conversation between the students and has helped us to figure out who we are."

The Underground Theater Group will be hosting a question and answer session regarding "Timepiece" today at 3 p.m. in Room 270 of the Theater building.

"Timepiece" will run along with three other plays. The performances are scheduled to run from Apr. 27 to 30.