1st Edition

Staging Sex Best Practices, Tools, and Techniques for Theatrical Intimacy

By Chelsea Pace Copyright 2020
    138 Pages 39 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    138 Pages 39 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Staging Sex lays out a comprehensive, practical solution for staging intimacy, nudity, and sexual violence.

    This book takes theatre practitioners step-by-step through the best practices, tools, and techniques for crafting effective theatrical intimacy. After an overview of the challenges directors face when staging theatrical intimacy, Staging Sex offers practical solutions and exercises, provides a system for establishing and discussing boundaries, and suggests efficient and effective language for staging intimacy and sexual violence. It also addresses production and classroom specific concerns and provides guidance for creating a culture of consent in any company or department.

    Written for directors, choreographers, movement coaches, stage managers, production managers, professional actors, and students of acting courses, Staging Sex is an essential tool for theatre practitioners who encounter theatrical intimacy or instructional touch, whether in rehearsal or in the classroom.

    1. Tools and Techniques  2. The Ingredients  3. Staging Intimacy  4. Recipes  5. Production Logistics  6. Staging Sex: A-Z  Appendix: Theatrical Intimacy Education

    Biography

    Chelsea Pace (SDC, MFA Arizona State University) is an intimacy choreographer and movement specialist. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and she choreographs and consults on best practices for staging intimacy for professional and educational theatre and film across the country. Chelsea is Co-Founder and Head Faculty of Theatrical Intimacy Education and President of the Association of Theatre Movement Educators. www.chelseapace.com and www.theatricalintimacyed.com.

    Laura Rikard (AEA, SAG-AFTRA, SDC) is a director, actor, theatre educator, acting coach, and intimacy specialist. She is Co-Founder and Head Faculty of Theatrical Intimacy Education. She is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of South Carolina Upstate. www.laurarikarddirector.com.

    "Staging Sex makes an excellent case for implementing a movement-based system for staging intimacy that is specific, desexualized, and repeatable. It addresses the explicit and implicit power structures within rehearsals and provides a pathway for actors to have agency over their own bodies."
    -Hillary Boyd, Theatre Topics, Volume 31, Number 2, July 2021, pp. 203-204