August 30, 2012 9.52 am This story is over 152 months old

Nudity brings fun theatre to Lincoln

Baring all: Lincoln Drill Hall have a few plays in the next couple of months featuring nudity, but is it tasteful or tasteless?

A number of popular titles featuring nudity will be coming to the stage in Lincoln over the next few months.

Lincoln Drill Hall recently hosted well-known title The Graduate, and will be following up the success of the production with The Blue Room, The Full Monty and Calendar Girls.

The Blue Room, starting September 7, looks at the sexual politics within ten different characters and their relationships.

Meanwhile, The Full Monty (September 11-15) and Calendar Girls (October 18-20) are both adaptions by local theatre companies of two popular productions.

While the nudity theme may raise the eyebrows of some, Drill Hall director Simon Hollingworth stresses the plays being so close together is merely coincidence.

He also believes it is all in good taste, and treats the audience to something different.

He said: “We have no policy regarding nudity, and the shows on our season calendar being close together is just coincidence.

“We had two different local amateur groups choose the shows and approach us with them. Calendar Girls and The Full Monty are both fun shows, and the nudity is quite discrete.

“In all incidences, it’s about the story, not the nudity. We don’t go looking for nudity, it’s about the show and quality of writing.

“We receive national arts funding to take risks, and we’d encourage our audiences to take risks too.”

Of course, Lincoln Drill Hall events are clearly marked if there is a possibility the show is not suitable for all audiences. For instance, The Blue Room states it “contains adult themes, strong language and nudity” so it’s not suitable for certain ages.

Hollingworth added: “Age limits depend on the show, and we prefer to let the audience make up their mind. For instance Calendar Girls is a funny show, and the nudity is subtle.

“We will make it clear if something is not necessarily for children — we would discourage someone bringing their their young children to shows like The Blue Room — but we won’t forbid younger audiences.”