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Post by Snciole on Oct 31, 2016 14:42:31 GMT
I wrote a blog back in April as there seemed to be lots of nudity going around viewfromthecheapseat.com/2016/04/13/may-contain-nuts-nudity-on-the-stage/ but I went to Lear yesterday and definitely more men than woman get naked. Harry Melling gets completely nude (I thought he had a lovely bottom,my boyfriend was complaining that his own didn't compare to Edmund's) as Edgar/Poor Tom. Nudity is expected in Lear now, people still talk about Ian McKellen's penis like it was utterly magical.
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5,593 posts
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Post by lynette on Oct 31, 2016 14:45:25 GMT
I wrote a blog back in April as there seemed to be lots of nudity going around viewfromthecheapseat.com/2016/04/13/may-contain-nuts-nudity-on-the-stage/ but I went to Lear yesterday and definitely more men than woman get naked. Harry Melling gets completely nude (I thought he had a lovely bottom,my boyfriend was complaining that his own didn't compare to Edmund's) as Edgar/Poor Tom. Nudity is expected in Lear now, people still talk about Ian McKellen's penis like it was utterly magical. I think we take the cue for the nudity from the text but I'm intrigued- surely the Elizabethans/Jacobean didn't take off their clothes? Or maybe just a token garment. This might be similar to the lines about the weather: if they say it is stormy we must imagine it so. Oooo imagination.
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923 posts
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Post by Snciole on Oct 31, 2016 14:49:41 GMT
I would argue the expectation is recent but for an elderly man to show his madness he needs to extreme behaviour, and it seems, ripping off your clothes if you haven't got a young hot body (Ian McKellen's enviable appendage aside) is seen as an act of madness. I think that is an outdated view, people get naked all the time now-see Naked Attraction.
I am sure productions from bygone ages had actors flashing their ankles.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2016 14:52:40 GMT
Nudity in Lear is textual. Edgar says "Brought near to beast: my face I'll grime with filth; Blanket my loins: elf all my hair in knots; And with presented nakedness out-face The winds and persecutions of the sky." So it suggests he's not going to be wearing anything except the meanest garment around his nether regions. (In the same speech he also suggests he's going to stick pins in his arms; happily I've only ever seen one production where Edgar actually did that!) Gloucester later refers to him as the naked fellow, indicating Edgar has indeed gone through with his plan to only wear minimal clothing while in his Poor Tom guise. Then, later, Lear cries: "Off, off, you lendings! come unbutton here." It's obviously down to the individual production how far Lear gets with this disrobing, but the text doesn't not support the appearance of Sir Ian's wizard staff, if you will. I don't know how far the Elizabethans went though, as I was not there, so I don't know how entirely helpful this reply is, but I've got an idea that if Shakespeare's writing explicit (and in fairness non-sexual, and quite probably only partial) nudity then it must have been at the very least a realistic option for actors of the era...
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4,038 posts
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Post by kathryn on Oct 31, 2016 15:33:58 GMT
I remember in my 'Invention of the Novel' lectures at university being told that the modern definition of 'naked' differs from the 18th century definition, and that 'naked' meant partially dressed - in a shift or other undergarment. Not sure if that holds for the Early modern period but that quote does suggest that 'naked' can involve loins being covered.
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18,844 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 31, 2016 16:19:47 GMT
I would argue the expectation is recent but for an elderly man to show his madness he needs to extreme behaviour, and it seems, ripping off your clothes if you haven't got a young hot body (Ian McKellen's enviable appendage aside) is seen as an act of madness. I think that is an outdated view, people get naked all the time now-see Naked Attraction. I am sure productions from bygone ages had actors flashing their ankles. Ahhhh so this would be the male equivalent if the classic female "I'm going mad so I'm going to apply this lipstick but smear it all over my face like a crayon"? Now I get it! Germaine Greer described Ian MCKellen's "that grotesque, rubbery appendage" and questioned the suitability of his performance for GCSE students
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2016 16:39:48 GMT
In his book Covering McKellen, David Weston was the understudy for Lear. He was sorry that he never got to go on, although he reports that he was incredibly nervous about showing his willy which would be significantly smaller than Mr M's.
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Post by longinthetooth on Oct 31, 2016 17:14:42 GMT
Ah, McKellan's 'Lear'. I remember many, many moons ago (if you'll pardon the pun), my friend dragged me along to see this as she fancied the pants (again, apologies) off Sir Ian. We were oh, so innocent in those days .......
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2016 12:46:43 GMT
Teaching Lear a few years ago one of my students first comments on the play was "I saw Ian McKellan's penis in that" ...
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5,593 posts
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Post by lynette on Nov 2, 2016 20:46:59 GMT
Talk about lowering the tone....
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2016 8:43:42 GMT
Talk about lowering the tone.... Me? the student?
In a thread about nudity I don't think (nor was I trying) to lower the tone, the McKellan conversation reminded me of a mildly amusing story. As for the student he was actually one of the brightest and best in his year, but for a then 16 year old I'm hardly surprised that "Gandalf's staff" was something he was amused at (and having taught Secondary School and Uni I assure you I've had tones lowered further in a classroom)
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2016 11:32:34 GMT
Talk about lowering the tone.... Impossible on this board, without actually ending up in Australia, surely? Well that production of Lear made it all the way to NZ so they must have REALLY lowered the tone!
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