Actors should be clearly informed what the training for a nude scene involved and be required to sign a consent form, according to a theatre studies academic.

“You cannot take me into a room and say you’re going to take your clothes off. There has to be consent. A serious company would definitely have an ethics form or a consent form – it’s what happens in the professional world,” Vicki Ann Cremona, associate professor in theatre studies at the University of Malta, said.

Prof. Cremona was reacting after television and theatre actor John Suda, 64, was charged on Sunday with the violent indecent assault of a 22-year-old actress.

Theatre producer Adrian Buckle said it was important for drama companies to have a code of ethics. “There is no need for a regulatory body. We don’t need more boards: the court is that.”

Alan Montanaro, academy principal for Helen O’Grady, said franchise drama schools had very stringent monitoring on teachers.

“Parents are entrusting us with their children at the end of the day.”

Read more in the Times of Malta.