Evening Standard – Up close – but not too personal: The ‘intimacy workshops’ giving actors guidelines for sex scenes
It’s mid-afternoon at Camden’s New Diorama Theatre and two actresses are practising a sex scene — without touching.
Instead, they’re saying every action out loud: “I’m looking at you and smiling, I put my hand between your legs, I turn my body and lift my buttocks, I go down.” Across the room, a male and a female actor are rehearsing an on-stage kiss as a director watches on. They begin by establishing boundaries: “Can I touch the side of your neck?” “Yes.” “The back of your neck?” “Yes.” “The front of your neck?” “No.” She doesn’t give a reason. They carry on, discussing whether the kiss should portray love or lust.
It sounds remarkably scripted but that’s the point. This is one of a new set of “intimacy workshops” for actors, producers and directors by professional movement director Ita O’Brien…