Kate Hoff is boldly going where she hasn't before: Acting with no clothes on in the Fringe Fest show "Fashion Risk, or The Accidental Nudist."

Hoff, who by day is vice-president for development of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Minneapolis, is appearing as one of 11 cast members in her friend Natalie Rae Wass's account of her own upbringing by a father who was nudist, and a mother who went along with it because Dad went to Mom's quilting shows.

"It's been fascinating," she said. "I think I'm a well-adjusted woman and that all bodies are fine, but am also dealing with the reality that I'm the largest body out there. I've had a lot of internal conflict. When I'm alone with the mirror I feel fabulous but on stage with a bunch of elfin people....but it's led to a lot of conversations about body image. Small people have issues, too, like people always telling them to eat a sandwich."

Hoff's husband Bob Weidman -- who will premiere his own rock comedy in the Fringe, "Now It's Art," this weekend -- has been very supportive, she said. "After he watched a rehearsal I asked him if it was hot, and he said, no, it's the furthest thing from sexual."

Hoff, who has also blogged about the festival for 10 years under the now-apt title "Full Frontal Fringe," discusses her journey toward a state of undress further here: http://www.startribune.com/a2412