A Nude Troubadours Production

The following story has been entered into the Nude Day contest for 2019. Thank you to everyone who has voted or commented in support of my stories. It is very much appreciated!

***

It was a Wednesday afternoon when Kate had her fateful encounter with a simple slip of paper. She had been sitting in Jane's on Main, her favorite coffee shop, nursing an iced coffee and savoring the earthy scent of freshly ground beans. The cafe was bustling as usual, full of all kinds of people, young and old. She liked to sit and eavesdrop on conversations buzzing all around her, floating with ease from one to the other, catching small fragments of strangers' lives, their worries, their joys, or even just their plans for the weekend.

On that day, however, such a simple pleasure seemed miles away.

Kate sat there alert and erect, chewing nervously on a straw that was slowly turning white with teeth marks. Her eyes were burning holes into the community board across the room; the one that she had happened to take a peek at on her way to place her order. She hadn't expected to find what she spotted there, it caught her by surprise, but it also filled her with intrigue, even now after pondering it for so long.

The bright yellow flyer was for the whimsically-named Nude Troubadours.

It looked like any other community board posting except for the one scandalous word that arrested her attention. "Help us celebrate our 5th season in New Haven!" it had said, reeling Kate in further. She had to stop and read more. It went on to say: "We're holding an open casting call for new members to join our ensemble and participate in our annual Shakespeare production. This year we'll be performing the comedy, 'Three Gypsies of Bracciano.'"

Kate couldn't help but be intrigued. She was a theatre graduate, after all, fighting the good fight to find steady work like the rest of her peers. But... nude? Come again? "We strive to be inclusive and seek a culturally and racially diverse group of actors to help us promote a message of body positivity. All genders, sexual orientations, et cetera, are welcome. Experimental theatre experience strongly advised." All good so far. Then it said, "It goes without saying that the Nude Troubadours perform in... well... the nude! So come be comfortable in your own skin and help us make this year's summer theatre season the most exciting one yet!"

"A nude theatre troupe? Here? In New Haven?" she had asked herself, bewildered by what she'd just read. It listed a date, time, and location for the upcoming open call along with pull-away strips containing a web site URL for more information, none of which had been plucked off yet.

Kate had never heard of the Nude Troubadours, however, that wasn't surprising. It had been less than a year since she had returned home from New York. After graduating from the NYU theatre program, she found it hard to afford to stay in the city on the meager earnings from the odd off-off-Broadway shows she managed to land. Even sharing an apartment in Astoria with two other girls seemed to be an insurmountable arrangement to maintain. At least for the time being, she reasoned, it would be wise to head home to nearby New Haven where she could find a less expensive apartment and get by on some additional financial assistance from her family.

At some point during her struggles, it seemed that this little experimental theatre group promoting body positivity and the normalization of nudity had sprung up out of nowhere... and it intrigued her. However, Kate wasn't sure it was for quite the right reasons. Sure, she was a theatre grad. Sure, she was looking for work. But as she sat there in that coffee shop her mind drifted back to one specific point and place in time.

It was sophomore year and she had signed up for the experimental theatre class. Kate had heard the gossip; that at some point the class would confront one of the most notorious features of experimental theatre: nudity. She had heard that part of the class' curriculum involved the students confronting their bodies together in an intimate class setting, removing their clothing and performing exercises in the buff. Frankly, she had been terrified but also, excited. It seemed so taboo to her -- but to have a squeaky-clean, school-sanctioned, culturally-acceptable reason to be around a bunch of naked, potentially-cute college guys? For that, she was willing to at least try to set aside her own fear of exposure.

When the class started, the topic of nudity was indeed introduced as part of the course curriculum but wouldn't happen until later in the semester. She imagined that was to dissuade anyone from taking the class just for the naked experience before dropping it immediately thereafter. The teacher hinted that it was a "popular" topic, a fact that triggered some knowing giggles throughout the room.

By the time the naked movement sessions actually occurred, Kate had gotten to know her classmates well. Not that she wasn't still nervous, just as they were, but at least it would happen amongst friends and not complete strangers. However, a couple of the guys made her especially nervous, on account of her growing interest in them, but she sucked it up and accepted that it was happening and went in that day with a stubborn determination to get through it with as little trauma as possible.

To say that it had been an awkward experience would be an understatement. However, it was also every bit as exciting as Kate secretly wanted it to be. She remembered it vividly: They'd all worn unrestrictive, comfortable clothing, just as they did when reporting to class on any other day. Only now, it seemed like a pointless, mechanical measure, completely unnecessary given the day's agenda. She remembered having to stand in a ring with her classmates, doing movement exercises at first, followed by breathing exercises. Her teacher had altered the routine a little, forcing them to face each other in this manner and spending more time on relaxation techniques, for reasons that seemed obvious.

The teacher had broken the circle briefly at one point to go and dim the lights until the room was filled with a soft orange glow rather than flooded with bright white light. It wasn't as if that would prevent anyone from seeing her body but It had an immediate calming effect, nevertheless. When the teacher returned, she instructed them all to begin undressing when they were ready. Kate remembered everyone's eyes; the way they zipped back and forth, connecting first with this person and then that one, silently communicating the same anxieties over and over as if they all needed to get it off their chests.

And then it started. Just like that. The floor suddenly felt cold and dusty against bare feet. Shirts went up, revealing bras. Other shirts sailed upward to reveal bare, muscular chests. Shorts and pants shot down to the floor. There was an assortment of boxers, panties, and briefs in alternating colors sweeping across her field of vision. A colorful wheel of undergarments breaking up an astonishing amount of bare flesh.

Kate recalled seeing, out of the corner of her eye, a bra pop off and a pair of naked breasts set free. She quickly looked over. The girl was looking down at the floor, unable to make eye contact with anyone. All heads seemed to be turned in her direction. The silence was deafening. The girl's first step set off a chain reaction. Across from Kate, to her left and to her right, more bras came off, underwear slipped quickly down legs.

Heavy breathing surrounded her as nervous students braved their first baby steps together, exploring the unique challenges of a genre of theatre that was best suited to confront social taboos.

Kate's heart was pulsating in her chest as she unhooked her bra and felt her boobs bounce free. She didn't want to look up for fear of catching someone's eyes but she couldn't help it. She looked up and saw the boy across from her standing back up, having just dropped his boxers. Her heart stopped as she saw his body. There were his penis and testicles, just dangling and swinging about as he stood back up. She wanted to shriek, both out of excitement and fear.

He looked up at her and she quickly looked away. There was nowhere safe to look! There were boobs everywhere. Penises flopping out around the room. Hairy vulvas all over. Kate quickly dropped her panties and stood back up. Her chest heaved in and out.

Everyone was looking at her in amazement. She was looking at them in amazement. Bewildered students frantically assessed each other's body out of curiosity and youthful sexual awareness. Kate's senses were overwhelmed. So much naked flesh. So much pubic hair. So many naked, exposed genitals.

Most of all, it was shocking to see what each one looked like. Kate discovered that each classmate's nudity seemed to possess its own personality, either representing or defying the person those private body parts belonged to... these people she thought she had gotten to know so well. She could feel a swelling of emotion all around her.

Something amazing was building within her, in the air throughout the room, expanding eyes, minds being blown. She experienced a brazen excitement, innocent, naked bodies sending a thrill up her spine, and another kind of thrill emerging somewhere else down below...

Kate snapped out of her daydream when a young woman asked if she could share her table.

As Kate nodded, she realized she was still faced with a question. Should she go to the open call? Did she want to? Could she manage to get by without her parents or brother ever finding out? If they did, what would she tell them? What would she tell her hometown friends? She felt for sure her life would become a sudden scandal; the talk of the town. However, something inside her was still yearning for that sense of freedom and liberation that she experienced back in college, as fleeting as it had been.

Kate left the cafe that day not quite in the state she usually did, but there was something strangely satisfying about being the first person to tear off one of those little strips and leave a sign of her brave interest behind, in the form of a single gap torn from the bottom of the flyer.

***

The day of the open call seemed a day like any other. The sun was shining. Young couples strolled in the park with overly-excited puppies dragging them across the grassy expanses. The food trucks were out and generating long lines. Booksellers set up shop in the streets to catch the daily foot traffic.

However, Kate was focused solely on the butterflies in her stomach. It was sophomore year all over again, she was a giddy college girl about to take off her clothes and hang out with naked boys, only it was worse because she had no idea who she would encounter there or what kind of experience she was in for.

She made her way across town to the performance space. Towering like a red brick behemoth, she arrived at one of the old, defunct mill buildings down along the railroad tracks outside of the city center, in a gritty neighborhood that was historically sketchy. However, in recent years it had started to get some cozy cafes, bookstores, and vintage clothing shops as a younger crowd moved in looking for cheap rentals and more space.

Kate got out of the car and startled herself unexpectedly, merely by slamming the door shut. She took a deep breath, preparing herself to go inside. In fact, she'd already done a good deal of preparation, starting with multiple readings of Three Gypsies of Bracciano.

The play was one she admittedly hadn't read since high school but Kate remembered it as being one of Shakespeare's funniest comedies. Civilization and order existed inside the walls of a medieval city, surrounded by a dark forest where chaos and lawlessness were thought to have reigned. The city folk didn't trust the gypsies that lived in the forest on the outskirts of Bracciano and the gypsies didn't trust the city folk inside.

The play opened with Prince Felix, who one day defied his father's wishes and went hunting in the forest alone. He fell asleep and was discovered by a band of gypsy girls masquerading as monsters to scare away anyone who ventured into their domain. Needless to say, one of the gypsies, Eutropia, fell in love with the sleeping prince and hatched a plan to violate the century-long boundary between two worlds to make him her husband.

What ensued was a madcap affair. Eutropia and her two closest friends dressed as city folk in order to leave the forest and drug the fair prince with a magical herb... only they administered the powerful aphrodisiac to the wrong man. As the gypsies continued to court the prince and his two closest friends, using their altered identities, everything went wrong that possibly could. One disaster after the next left nearly everyone drawn into the matter a victim of this ill-conceived plan, whether tricked, robbed, humiliated, or in one case, murdered. In the end, only the three young men from the city and the three young gypsy girls received an undeservedly happy ending... albeit none of them with the person that they originally pined for.

It was a raucous, whimsical narrative that Kate recalled had inspired many debates in school. Were the men depicted as representative of order, dominating the gypsy girls who represented chaos in a show of male dominance? Did the gypsy girls represent the powerful feminine source of life, before it became tainted by the world of men? Were they alone capable of rescuing mankind from its folly? There were no answers and it depended on your perspective.

One thing remained constant: young love could be impulsive, haphazard... and fucking hilarious.

Kate did her best to put her fears out of her head and strolled into the performance space, preferring to think about how interesting it might be to take part in a more loose and innovative interpretation of that famous comedy. She hoped that there would at least be photos of past performances on display, so she'd know exactly what she was getting into, but she found herself crossing a silent, empty foyer toward a door with a sign indicating entry into the theatre itself.

When she got inside and made her way down the aisle toward the stage, Kate found various performers milling about and socializing as if they knew one another. She gathered that they were the ones returning for another season. A small handful of people like her were also standing about, looking mildly disoriented, albeit enthusiastic. The turnout of new faces seemed very low but she didn't find that strange, given the obvious taboo surrounding nudity. However, the situation also increased her likelihood of achieving membership and it felt like any option for turning back was swiftly vanishing.

The founder of the Nude Troubadours, Gwen Perkins, was an impressive woman in her late thirties. She seemed determined, knowledgeable, wise, and creative. Kate got the sense immediately that she'd like to work with her and hear more about her vision. She soon did, as Gwen welcomed the new faces that had arrived, offered them bottled water, and brought them into the fold. Kate listened to her detail the exegesis and origin of the theatre company; how it started on a personal level when she was a victim of abuse, how that experience stayed with her and impacted her ideas, influenced her passion for the theatre, and led her to an idea that she hoped would empower men and women alike. Kate was intrigued by this offering of an alternate way to think about topics she felt were often viewed through a negative lens.

From the get-go, Kate was hooked and felt a strong desire to be a part of it all. Although she had a strong sexual affinity toward the act of performing in the nude, she felt equally inspired by Gwen's message. Kate reminded herself that there was no reason the two could not coexist, provided she never confuse the two or forget when one or the other was appropriate to engage.

Granted, there were certainly persons of interest that emerged as Gwen began calling on current members and newbies alike to introduce themselves. When the guys spoke up, Kate found herself secretly trying to figure out which ones were gay and which were straight. A mystery man had caught her eye from the start. When he introduced himself as Dan Watts, she added him instantly and excitedly to her straight list.

During his introduction, Dan responded to one of Gwen's ice-breaker suggestions that his favorite performance to have taken part in so far was "The Fall of Icarus," a popular Greek tragedy in which he had played the lead role. Kate grew excited. It had been many years ago, and her part was small, but she had been in a performance of the same play and loved it.

"I'm Kate Bowman," she announced cheerfully when Gwen called on her.

As heads turned her way, she glanced briefly at Dan, scanning for his attention. She quickly noted that she was happy to hear "The Fall of Icarus" mentioned as it was one of her own personal favorites. Kate paused for a moment, observing Dan's expression from afar. He had smiled at her. She went on to give her background and did her best to hide any nervousness that she felt about the frank embrace of nudity that was about to occur. Kate received a hearty welcome from all those present and felt at home.

As Gwen went around the room, she watched Patricia introduce herself, who had graduated from NYU as she did. She met Nicholas and Brittany who were some of the longest-running members. There were other head-turners like Josh and Terrence, who were both newbies like her, along with Jenny, a short Asian girl with pigtails. A woman named Paige seemed delightful and friendly and Kate immediately saw her as someone she might like to be fast friends with.

As orientation went on, she felt increasingly less like these were strangers and more like people who could understand her, who had similar interests, who knew what she had been through in her struggle to forge a budding career in theatre.

After various clothed exercises, they broke for lunch, where Kate had a chance to get to know Paige a little better, and they quickly hit it off. Gwen seemed blasé about the fact that they'd be getting naked after lunch. In a way, that made Kate feel a little better. If it was no big deal for Gwen, maybe she might feel that it was no big deal for her.

During lunch, however, her eyes frequently wandered over to Dan. Dan with the big brown eyes, the strong jaw, and high cheekbones...

Afterward, Kate felt her panic really begin to rise. It was as if all her mental preparation for the undressing went out the window. Too nervous to stand by Dan, Kate made her way to the back of the stage where she could hide next to Josh, who seemed equally uneasy. The task proceeded quite unlike her previous experience in college. The returning performers were clearly used to being naked together. Clothes flew off quickly and with ease.

Kate stared in amazement at the apparent comfort that Brittany had, pulling off her t-shirt, unhooking her bra, and bearing her two perky breasts within seconds of receiving the invitation. Her pants and underwear quickly followed and suddenly she seemed proud to flash her neatly groomed lady bits to the room. She chatted excitedly with Nicholas the whole time, apparently unfazed as he removed his shirt and then slipped down his shorts and boxers in a single go. Kate shivered at the startling appearance of his long, pendulous cock.

"Oop-- there's a naked penis," she thought to herself, casting her eyes downward toward the floor for a moment to recover. She glanced back up and took a second look at his body, now completely unclothed. She marveled at how casually he managed to stand there with his privates visible.

It didn't occur to Kate that Gwen, too, would join them in the buff. She had stepped off to the side to carefully remove and fold her clothing, then returned to the stage without a stitch of clothing on. Kate found herself obsessively examining everyone's body. Gwen had small, firm breasts, perfectly round, like two apples, which wiggled in a way that seemed to reflect her cheerful personality. She was pretty hairy, with a fair bit of course black thatch between her pasty legs and small tufts nestled into her armpits. As Kate looked around the room, she felt excited to see so many different types of bodies represented.