For Froehlich, the process of finding the six nude extras in Faust was very informal.

“It involved asking friends, asking friends of friends, asking my staff to find people for me,” he said. “I ended up with the amount I wanted, and they were really cooperative, comfortable folks. It was the best way to approach it.”

There were six extras who appeared nude in Faust, including Jane H. van Cleef ’06, the show’s costume designer. For her, appearing nude was only embarrassing during the first few rehearsals; as van Cleef said, “After that, I was just sort of jaded. You become shockingly jaded to it, and it was fun.”

The comfort level was such that the nude performers did naked stretches backstage before the rehearsals, and the cast became very nonchalant about it. Van Cleef admitted that some jitters returned on opening night, but she found that she could channel her jitters elsewhere.

“I was really angry about the status quo and how Mephistopheles used cultural norms to screw over Gretchen, so I channeled my embarrassment into righteous indignation,” van Cleef said.

Danielle B. Sanzone ’03, another performer who appeared nude in Faust, explained that the only moment of embarrassment came from the fact that the nude performers were supposed to look straight ahead.

“It was only embarrassing when you discovered that you were staring at someone that you’ve known since freshman year and that you didn’t intend for them to see you naked,” she said. “As long as you didn’t know the one person you were staring at, it was fine.”

Faust had to undergo a lengthy approval process involving both the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC) and the American Repertory Theater (ART). Froehlich discussed with both Marcus Stern, faculty directory of the HRDC, and Rob Orchard, Executive Director of the ART, who were concerned that the students involved in the production were informed and protected.

“We wanted to make sure there was no coercion,” Orchard said.

Stern further emphasized the point by adding, “We wanted to make sure that the director is careful and sensitive in the way he incorporated this element into rehearsals and performances. We want to make sure that any actor who agreed to appear nude in a show always has the option to change their mind at any point during the process.”

Orchard and Stern also discussed with Froehlich his artistic approach and what he wanted to accomplish.

“I wanted to make sure he had the appropriate conceptual process,” Orchard said.

Orchard asked Benjamin D. Margo ’04-’05, president of the HRDC and a Crimson editor, to investigate existing university-wide policy regarding nudity on stage. There were none, and so Orchard, Stern and Margo more or less developed a policy.

Margo echoed Stern and Orchard’s primary concern.

“The HRDC and Loeb Drama Center policy is designed to ensure that no performer is ever made to feel uncomfortable. The audiences were warned about the content of the show, also a matter of policy,” he said.

As the director, Froehlich was pleased that the process ran very smoothly. “At first I thought this was just them power-tripping me,” he said, “but eventually I realized that people on the HRDC board were genuinely concerned with how it was going to affect people in audition and the rest of the cast.”

When asked about whether shows that feature nudity in the future would undergo a similar process, Orchard, Stern and Margo agreed that the process will remain in place. Stern said, “As for future productions, I believe that we would continue to use the same process and criteria for monitoring nudity in productions.”

He stressed, “The issue is not censorship, or aesthetic judgment, the issue is again first and foremost the safety, comfort and protection for the students involved. We want to make sure that all shows remain an unpressured and positive experience for the students.”