Flinders University has defended the use of nudity in a recent play after concerns were raised by a mother whose daughter was asked to appear partially naked on stage.

The 18-year-old first-year is enrolled in a creative arts course but her mother says she was told she could miss out on lead roles in student stage productions after she declined to appear topless in the play.

The university says it is investigating the claim.

The mother says she is concerned students who perform naked could be exposed on websites without their consent.

"They can put them on Facebook, they can put them on Twitter. They are exposing our kids," she said.

"I know they are young adults but they are still impressionable and they have no right to make our kids think that this is acceptable behaviour and they are typecast in the future for parts.

"These kids are under pressure thinking they have to do this to make it."

The woman says the production featured a topless female student and contained sexually explicit language, including references to bestiality.

"It was a war-related play and very explicit sexual comments were made. I just don't think this is necessary to show your acting skill. You don't need to sink this low," she said.

The woman also raised concerns about the way drama is taught at the university.

She said young female actors should be given the choice about the types of roles they want to play.

"We can actually have a classy form of acting. Students can still be challenged, they can still think outside of the box without having to head down that track," she said.

'Not gratuitous'

The play is called "Trojan Barbie: a car-crash with Euripides' Trojan women" and is a modern retelling of a classical Greek tale.

Arts Professor Julian Meyrick says drama students have never been pressured into performing naked and only a few plays have included nudity.

"A small proportion of those may involve semi-nudity but it's certainly not a matter of course and we certainly don't insist on it," he said.

"It's not gratuitous nudity. We don't do it for the sake of it. We do all sorts of play and all some plays involve those kinds of acts.

"We have to train [students] for the field and so we give them the option but we don't insist on it. They can always say no and they're not penalised for it."

The university's head of acting, Rosalba Clemente, says two of the 15 plays in which students have taken part during the past two years have involved nudity.

"If nudity is required we would do what the industry does. We would talk to the student, consult with the student. If the student declines that role for those reasons we would just let it go," she said.

'Inappropriate and explicit'

Opposition education spokesman David Pisoni says he has spoken to the woman and says he shares her concerns about students performing the play.

"I'm not sure it's appropriate. There are a number of outcomes for learning drama. You could be a drama teacher, a director, a writer, a producer," he said.

"I'm not sure how this adds any value and certainly there shouldn't be any pressure on students to participate in nudity and particularly sexually explicit scenes in drama class.

"The irony here is that my understanding is that the play is about the exploitation of women."

Education Minister Jennifer Rankine says she is also concerned about the report.

"I would be most uncomfortable if my daughter was required as part of her studies to remove her clothes so I understand artistic licence but it needs to be put in some context," she said.