Members of Naked Girls Reading Rome, an offshot of a US group which organizes nude literary readings, will perform the short novel at Teatro Centrale on Sunday evening.

The 1843 English classic, which tells the tale of Londoner Scrooge’s hatred for Christmas, will be retold by three nude Italian women.

Actress Mariaelena Masetti Zannini, street performer Mimì Bohèmien and burlesque dancer Candy Rose will take to the stage, introduced by Albadoro Gala.

“It’s a form of burlesque,” said Gala, who brought Naked Girls Reading to Rome after meeting one of the US founders in Las Vegas. The concept was created five years ago in Chicago, by performer Michelle L’amour and her partner Franky Vivid.

After a successful bilingual performance of Shakespeare’s sonnets in October, the group’s Christmas reading will be conducted entirely in Italian. The audience will mostly be made up of Italian women, Gala said.

“It’s an initiative which changes depending on the society. There are so many differences between a performance in Italy and one in the US.

“Italians can get embarrassed by it, but there are people who are curious and not judgemental,” she told The Local.

The particular draw of Naked Girls Reading is its “originality”, Gala said: “I like to bring new things to Italy.”