At This Stage: When a scene involves any sort of violence or extreme physicality, it’s a no-brainer that a fight director will be hired. Yet when there’s intimacy involved, we often expect the actors to wing it. Or worse, to “go in the hallway and figure it out.”
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I think that having an intimacy director is crucial in any performance that has a vulnerable moment on stage. Intimacy and boundaries (for everyone including staff, crew, and cast) are very important for the health of the entire company. Just as a fight scene, it had to be choreographed and improvisation is a hard NO. I personally don't understand what it is like to be asked by a director to do certain intimate things for a role but I can see how much pressure an actor would be under to say yes even if they were uncomfortable. I think that an ID should be hired if there are intimate scenes on stage. No, I don't think a single kiss needs an intimacy director, but there should always be boundaries set and actors need to feel that they are safe and can speak up when something doesn't feel right.
This article does a really good job of explaining what the job of an intimacy director is and the importance of why it is needed in any situation that requires some form of intimacy. I really like the how the author of the article explains the entire purpose of intimacy direction which should generally be the motive behind getting a group of individuals to put on a play. I honestly do believe and agree that intimate scenes should be choreographed by someone who is properly trained and not someone who is winging it. Having an intimacy director in the rehearsal room takes into consideration everyone in the room. The main participants of the action need help and the people who have to watch it need to be thought about also. The presence of an intimacy director also helps the stage manager in not feeling like they are being difficult when they feel something is being done wrong in the room. Like the author said the main idea "is not about restricting people, but rather about empowering them"
“Gentleman Jack” a historical drama television series launched this May and attracted public attention for BBC hiring the intimacy director for the first time. The production team of the new 007, which will be out on April 2020, announced that they hired intimacy director. It is great that the proper care of actors in the process of creating the sexual content is finally being discussed following the #MeToo movement. Theatre actors are no exception for the care, especially when they have to run shows multiple times.
There is an idea in theatre, which acting involves embarrassment. “Acting is half shame, half glory. Shame at exhibiting yourself, glory when you can forget yourself” says John Gielgud. However, protecting actors from abuse must be considered separately, although finding a fine line is extremely difficult. I believe having a specially trained director for this matter is great progress in the arts and allows us to widen the range of expression more realistically, safely, and freely.
This is important!!!! I think in the industry, there's an idea that actors should be comfortable with anything, but actors, as anyone else, have the right to say no! I think that Bibicoff makes such an interesting point comparing an Intimacy Director to a Fight Director. This is a specialty and it needs to be done responsibly. I had a friend in high school who had a kiss scene with a guy and was given no direction and every performance he would do something new without permission. It was so ridiculous and inappropriate. Communication between actors in scenes with intimacy is so important and, honestly, some people are jerks and won't want to do that. So an Intimacy Director seems like a good way to amend that. Making sure everyone is comfortable is something that is extremely important and there's no way to do that if communication isn't clear. Something that I think most directors don't understand is that an actor doing anything to another without clear permission is sexual assault and having a nude person in the room without the consent of everyone in the room is sexual harassment. So, this is very serious and an Intimacy Director is NOT optional.
I think that, for any production that features an intimate scene between two (or more) actors, an Intimacy Director is a must!! Actors are expected to be completely vulnerable when on stage and willing to do anything "for the art", but that is a completely flawed way to look at things. Actors are people as well; people who have insecurities, people who have limits. I, myself, have taken what I felt were pretty intense acting classes. I was assigned a scene with one of my classmates, who I was extremely comfortable with, that happened to include intimate, sexual moments between us. I did feel uncomfortable at times. However, as this scene was part of my grade, I was too afraid to voice my feelings on the topic when we workshopped the scene in class. Luckily, my director noticed one day in my body language that I was not at all comfortable with the situation. She, then, sat us all in a circle and we had a discussion. She made sure to emphasize that if either of us were at all comfortable with the scene in any way, it was totally ok and she would simply assign us a different scene. I did really like the message my partner and I was conveying in our scene and truly didn't want to change it, but at that moment I felt it was right to explain my discomfort in certain subjects. The discussion went very well and for the rest of our rehearsals, I felt comfortable and safe around my scene partner.
I was lucky that my director was very understanding of my discomfort, but many actors in the professional world are not as lucky. Many directors expect actors to be ready to do anything on the spot when that simply isn't true. An ID is a must when it comes to making sure all actors and crew members are completely comfortable and feel completely safe in whatever environment they are working in.
This article is very informative on the role of an intimacy director. I didn’t even consider that shows hire someone to direct intimate scenes, and it is so great that they do!! One of the reasons shows hire fight directors is because actors don’t always have experience performing those kinds of movements. Above that, though, a fight director is there to make sure that no one gets hurt. The same conditions apply for intimacy. An actor may not have experience or feel comfortable, which could affect the other actor(s) involved in the scene. Having someone like an intimacy director levels those types of actions to being just another part of the show because, like the rest of the acting, those parts are being directed.
Having an intimacy director is something that every production should have. At CMU we have a few faculty members who fit into this role. During my time here at CMU, these faculty members have done workshops and meetings and trainings to make sure we as students in theatre feel safe. On the first day of rehearsal, Judy comes in and talks about intimacy. On HBO they recently hired an intimacy director for one of its shows, and that is a great first step for HBO. When major TV networks start hiring Intimacy directors more and more other networks and film will also start doing this. On Broadway, some shows have started to have intimacy directors. Most notably, Audra McDonalds latest play had one. Through a New York Times interview, Audra and her co-star explained why they needed one and how they work in the rehearsal room. Within 5 years every single production/movie/tv show should automatically have an intimacy director.
I think the last line of this article, about not restricting but empowering people, is such a good one. I also think this article did an amazing job of linking the role of an intimacy director to one that most of the industry is already familiar with: a fight director. I especially appreciated the way the article confronted many of the usual oppositions to an intimacy director, such as "just going for it" as a common practice in a lot of rehearsal rooms, and the fact that actors or even the director may not have been in those specific intimate situations and cannot "just go for it." I think protecting everyone in the room and respecting their boundaries is so important, especially when it comes to moments where people might have to be more vulnerable than usual, both physically and mentally. I also really appreciated how this article points out that everyone in the room should feel comfortable and safe, including the production team as well as performers.
I’m so glad there is an article out there explaining what an intimacy director is, and that this conversation keeps growing. I can’t understand how some directors don’t see the need for one, and leave the intimacy to be conversed between the actors, or let the actors just wing it. When in reality to create a safe environment, the best thing is to plan it, and never ever ever deviate from the plan. This can protect the actors and make them feel like what they’re doing is just part of the blocking, like any other normal scene, and takes of the hyper awareness of it being a sensitive scene, and this also covers the directors ass when it comes to harassment/discomfort claims. More and more actors should request an intimacy director just like they can request a fight director, and a fight captain. I cant wait for the day this becomes a norm and its not a novelty thing, some companies are doing here and there.
Intimacy direction is one of the highest growing aspects of theater that's recently been coming to the forefront of our industry as a necessary and beneficial part of a theatrical process. It starts with asking yourself, does this play need these intimate scenes, how is it benefiting the storytelling, is it for shock value, what exactly does this scene do for a show and audience. After that, an intimacy director should be considered if the moment calls for it. I do think that certain things like simple kisses aren't necessarily something that a intimacy director needs to be called in for, a director and stage manager should be professional enough to create an environment where the actors can do simple stuff with ease and safety. But scenes with sex and what not should have an intimacy director at the very least to keep it safe, and once a director really discovers the benefits from having an intimacy director, they can actually start to become a collaborator.
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