Contextualizing If You Wanna Switch Seats, We Could

Authors

  • Joe Salvatore New York University
  • Lucy Medeiros
  • Lilly Stannard

Keywords:

Research-based theatre, verbatim theatre, verbatim performance, Ethnodrama, educational theatre

Abstract

The Verbatim Performance Lab (VPL) at New York University’s Steinhardt School conducted a Research-based Theatre investigation entitled If You Wanna Switch Seats, We Could. The project involved secondary school students from across the US performing a section of the September 2020 presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The aim was to explore how perceptions change when the debate is performed by young people. The project used the ethnodramatic form of verbatim performance, where actors portray someone word for word and gesture for gesture and often of a different identity. The project culminated in a virtual public sharing of the filmed investigations, and offered students an opportunity to gain a better understanding of their place in the political landscape.

Author Biographies

Joe Salvatore, New York University

is the founder and director of the Verbatim Performance Lab and a Clinical Professor of Educational Theatre at the Steinhardt School at New York University.

Lucy Medeiros

teaches theatre full-time to New York City students in grades 6-12. She has a BS and MA in Educational Theatre from the Steinhardt School at New York University.

Lilly Stannard

is co-founder of Impact Arts, a prison-based arts nonprofit, and is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and artist-researcher interested in the transformative nature of the arts in various settings.

References

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Saldaña, J. (2011). Ethnotheatre: Research from page to stage. Left Coast Press.

Salvatore, J. (2018). Ethnodrama and ethnotheatre. In P. Leavy (Ed.), Handbook of arts-based research (pp. 267-287). Guilford Press.

Salvatore, J. (2020). Scripting the ethnodrama. In P. Leavy (Ed.), Oxford handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed.; pp. 1045-1083). Oxford University Press.

Salvatore, J. (2023). Verbatim performance and its possibilities. ArtsPraxis, 10(1), 1-20.

Stamatiou, E., Kildow, E., Spearing, F., Nodding, G., & Price, J. P. (2022). Developing the critical verbatim theater artist during the pandemic: A transatlantic collaboration. ArtsPraxis, 9(1), 13-33.

Stannard, L. & Medeiros, L. (2021). Curriculum outline: If You Wanna Switch Seats We Could. https://drive.google.com/file/d/17H-ASu8kfKbBfSyl3aZX9y6nY3b5LXM9/view

Vachon, W., & Salvatore, J. (2023). Wading the quagmire: Aesthetics and ethics in verbatim theater act 1. Qualitative Inquiry, 29(2), 383-392. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10778004221098988

Verbatim Performance Lab. (2024). Frequently asked questions: A conversation. https://wp.nyu.edu/verbatimperformancelab/f-a-q-s/

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Published

2025-05-31

How to Cite

Salvatore, J., Medeiros, L., & Stannard, L. (2025). Contextualizing If You Wanna Switch Seats, We Could. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 59(1), 225–233. Retrieved from https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/10266