Temporal Changes In Audiences’ Emotional and Cognitive Responses to the Ford/Hill Project: A Sentiment Analysis

Background and Purpose: Gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual harassment, assault, and rape, remains a pervasive social problem, occurring within contexts like interpersonal relationships to workplaces. Recent feminist movements like #MeToo have brought needed attention to GBV, particularly through highly publicized trials involving public figures. The Ford/Hill Project, a theatrical work using the verbatim testimonies of Anita Hill and Christine Blasey-Ford during U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings, offers a unique opportunity to examine how public disclosures of GBV are experienced and interpreted by audiences. Performed in New York City during the Under the Radar Festival, the production juxtaposes their testimonies across time, underscoring the persistence of GBV within the U.S. sociopolitical and legal systems. This study investigates the temporal evolution of audience members’ emotional and cognitive responses to the performance.

Methods: Data (N=126) came from digital surveys administered at three time points via QR codes before the performance (n=84) and after the performance (n=88), and via email/text message two weeks after the performance (n=92). Surveys included closed-ended, multiple choice, and open-ended questions tailored to each time point, accounting for participants’ emotional tenor. Respondents were free to complete any/all the surveys, and could skip questions. This qualitative study draws on Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, which emphasizes learning through observation, and Phelan’s theory of the ontology of performance, which says the meaning of performance is rooted in its temporality and impermanence. These frameworks guided the sentiment analysis of open-ended responses across all time points, categorizing words and phrases as positive, neutral, and negative.

Results: Pre-performance responses reflecting general perceptions of GBV were predominantly negative (e.g., scared, threatening, unacceptable, isolating, prosecuted) with fewer neutral (normalized), or positive descriptors. Immediate post-performance responses remained largely negative (e.g., anger, deflection, humiliation, degradation) but a notable increase in positive descriptors was observed (e.g., powerful, role switching, sober, thought provoking), suggesting emotional complexity in audiences. Two-week post-performance responses shifted strongly toward positive sentiments (e.g., strength, impactful, creative, trusting, truth, social connectedness, active support, moving), with fewer neutral or negative descriptors (e.g., sacrifice, discouraged). Qualitative responses highlight how embodied and relational the performance felt. Participants described the impact of actors’ direct eye contact, emotional resonance with other audience members (e.g., noticing “a stranger in tears”), and the intimate performance space as facilitating deeper engagement.

Conclusions and Implications: Findings suggest that exposure to The Ford/Hill Project may facilitate a temporal process of emotional and cognitive engagement with GBV, characterized by initial negative affect, followed by reflection, leading to the emergence of more constructive, socially oriented responses. Consistent with Bandura’s and Phelan’s theories, audiences appear to internalize observed experiences, while the impermanence of live performance may intensify emotional processing well beyond the theatrical production. By fostering emotional connection, critical reflection, and social awareness, such performance-based approaches may contribute as tools for public engagement and creating broader cultural shifts in understanding, responding to, and preventing GBV.