The 2016 presidential debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were among the most-watched televised debates of all time. In each case, when the cameras shut off, the Internet chatter and soul-searching began.

The talk was often about Trump as the bully and Clinton as the punching bag. But what would we say if the female candidate had been the aggressor?

On Wednesday night a new play called Her Opponent opens at New York's The Theatre Centre. It uses documentary theatre techniques to restage excerpts of the three 2016 presidential debates — word-for-word and gesture-for-gesture — but in this performance, the genders are reversed.

As the stars of the show explain to Day 6 host Brent Bambury, what they're learning is more complicated they they imagined.













"It's actually kind of fun as an actor because I get to be really loud and really forceful and really intense," says Tuggle Whorton, who also says that on the whole, this is an unappealing character.



"When I come off stage, kind of remembering what I just said is sometimes troubling." "One thing that I've learned from doing this is that there's an inherent theatricality to being a politician, especially an American politician during the debate cycle," says Daryl Embry , who plays Jonathan Gordon aka Hillary Clinton. Rachel Tuggle Whorton plays Judy King, a politician with the same back story as Donald Trump, including the billions of dollars, the big personality and the brassy confidence."It's actually kind of fun as an actor because I get to be really loud and really forceful and really intense," says Tuggle Whorton, who also says that on the whole, this is an unappealing character."When I come off stage, kind of remembering what I just said is sometimes troubling."

Seeing through gender bias

Her Opponent is the creation of Maria Guadalupe, a professor at France's INSEAD Business school, and Joe Salvatore, a director and a professor at NYU.

Guadalupe got the idea for the play/social experiment after watching the first two debates. Her idea was to keep the authentic dialogue, speech patterns and gestures of the debate but to swap the genders and gauge audience response.

As she told The New York Times in January, she envisioned that the gender swap would explore double standards and invite viewers to question their own biases.

Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton at the final presidential debate in October 2016. A new play features excerpts of their debates. (AFP/Getty Images/Mark Ralston)

"I think that what this play allows you to do is remove yourself a little bit from reality," Guadalupe says.

The show was supposed to be a one-off. It first ran at the Provincetown Playhouse on Saturday, January 28, but the response immediately sparked interest for more.

It officially begins its open-ended run off-Broadway on April 26th, but previews have been running at the Jerry Orbach Theater since March 22nd.



The Conversation

The experience includes an opportunity for audiences to share their thoughts in a facilitated discussion following the performance.

Rachel Tuggle Whorton plays Brenda King, a character with the same traits, back story as Donald Trump. (heropponent.com)

Embry and Tuggle Whorton say these talks often lead to new, and sometimes uncomfortable insights into the role gender played in the election.

"We had one lady say: 'I wish that I could act like that. I wish that I felt so empowered that I could take up that much space'," says Tuggle Whorton, who adds that a lot of women seem to be into Brenda's bravado.

Tuggle Whorton also says audiences admit that they're rooting for her Trump-like character to beat Embry's Jonathan Gordon.

Daryl Embry plays Jonathan Gordon, a character based on Hillary Clinton. (heropponent.com) "They appreciate that she's so forceful and not taking any flack from the other candidate," she says.

While Brenda King's debate performance is testing better than Donald Trump's, Jonathan Gordon isn't faring so well.

"We had one audience member call me punchable. Smarmy has come out a lot," says Embry. "I think the audience sees a polished, over-rehearsed politician and not necessarily someone who is speaking from the heart," he says.

The Method

"I think it's kind of unsettling. People use PTSD when they watch this," Embry says. "As far as re-examining, everyone bias coming into it. Just seeing things from a shifted perspective illuminates different things about the original candidates."

Those 'original things' are what Embry and Tuggle Whorton had to get right. Their characters are fictional but aside from their names and genders, they are Trump and Clinton.

Tuggle Whorton says they started by obsessively listening to the vocal patterns of the candidates.

"We marked when they breathe, where they pause, where they upglide and where they downglide, until we got that rhythm in our brain and in our bodies," she says.

Embry and Tuggle Whorton had to memorize lines, facial expressions, gestures and reactions from the 2016 U.S. presidential debates. (heropponent.com)



To master the facial expressions and body language, the actors consumed as much video as they could handle. They rehearsed and took notes and even created a shorthand for the candidate's idiosyncratic gestures. To master the facial expressions and body language, the actors consumed as much video as they could handle. They rehearsed and took notes and even created a shorthand for the candidate's idiosyncratic gestures.

"My favourite is called 'shadow puppet dog'," says Tuggle Whorton. "It's like an open palm with a pointer-finger bent and a thumb up. He uses it to point and he waves it around but it looks like he's going to make a shadow puppet on the wall."

Embry says Clinton also had a notable hand gesture that he nicknamed 'The Orb'.

"It's like she's summoning a storm or holding a basketball or a volleyball when she talks," he says.

Embry and Tuggle Whorton gave nicknames to frequently-used Trump and Clinton gestures. (Getty Images)



As for what they've learned, Tuggle Wharton says she has new insight into how Trump won the election.



"I think it revealed something about the tactics Donald Trump used in the way he delivers a message," she says.



For Embry and the select audience feedback, the gender switch neutralizes the characters.



"These are politicians we've seen for decades and decades, so putting their words and actions on a blank pallet of these new actors, that had more of an impact," he says.

As for what they've learned, Tuggle Wharton says she has new insight into how Trump won the election."I think it revealed something about the tactics Donald Trump used in the way he delivers a message," she says.For Embry and the select audience feedback, the gender switch neutralizes the characters."These are politicians we've seen for decades and decades, so putting their words and actions on a blank pallet of these new actors, that had more of an impact," he says.

To hear Brent's full conversation with Daryl Embry and Rachel Tuggle Whorton, download our podcast or click the 'Listen' button at the top of this page.