This is an interesting way of exploring the role that gender played in the recent US presidential race: cast the actors in the reverse genders, repeat the debates word-for-word and gesture-for-gesture, and see how our reactions change.
By swapping gender but staying authentic to speech patterns and gestures, we were able to shake the audience from their normal reaction. Trump was no longer seen as a reality star or Hillary as a female icon. Free from their preconceived biases, audiences found themselves seeing things differently and gaining insight into how others saw these two very public figures.
It was an unusual experiment which sparked some surprising reactions in a talkback session after the events. The expectation, held by myself and the majority of people polled before the performance, had been that Clinton would look “more presidential” as a man and Trump’s lack of respect for, and aggression towards, his opponent would not be tolerated in a woman. Our predictions were way off.
Another interesting way to consider the gender issue is to imagine that Carly Fiorina (or perhaps Sarah Palin) and Bernie Sanders had faced off. So many people expressed horror that America supposedly just wouldn't vote for a woman... but what if that woman were the Republican? Would that horror go missing?
By swapping gender but staying authentic to speech patterns and gestures, we were able to shake the audience from their normal reaction. Trump was no longer seen as a reality star or Hillary as a female icon. Free from their preconceived biases, audiences found themselves seeing things differently and gaining insight into how others saw these two very public figures.
It was an unusual experiment which sparked some surprising reactions in a talkback session after the events. The expectation, held by myself and the majority of people polled before the performance, had been that Clinton would look “more presidential” as a man and Trump’s lack of respect for, and aggression towards, his opponent would not be tolerated in a woman. Our predictions were way off.
Here's the NYU press release: https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2017/march/...
And a New York Times review: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/theater/he-said-she-said-...
The linked video of the entire performance seems to no longer be available, but there is a short clip in the Guardian article: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/29/clinton-trum....