Transfigurations: Transgressing Gender in the Bible

directed by Samuel Neff
DVD, 2017, 103 min
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The DVD includes this embedded video performance as well as a longer performance lecture.

Peterson Toscano has shaken up Bible scholarship and received high praise for his groundbreaking, genre-bending, gender-blending Bible interpretations. By unearthing the gender stories of people in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, Toscano’s one-person performance deepens well-known (and lesser-known) Bible stories and presents an array of Bible characters with an array of genders.

The DVD contains two beautifully filmed, high definition versions of Peterson’ groundbreaking work—a performance lecture (60 min) and the full dramatic play (45 min; also available to watch online). Watch it on your own or with a group for entertainment, study, or inspiration.

You may also be interested in the excerpt Joseph and the Amazing Gender Non-Conforming Bible Story.

(6 sessions)

Usage: Because Peterson Toscano has made a study guide available on his website, and the DVD description mentions watching the performances with a group, we infer that groups have permission to watch this resource collectively for group study. However, for any other use (including streaming), please contact him for permission.

Toscano brings a deep reverence for the Biblical text with him into his exploration of gender transgression. This play is mesmerizing and compels the viewer to see well known Bible stories in a brave new light."-Nadia Bolz-Weber, author of Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint.

"I applaud Peterson for bringing to the fore in this play a new way of looking at the Bible! Bravo! No, bravissimo! I had to look at my own sexual stereotypes and how I bring them to biblical interpretation!" - Michael Willett Newheart, Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Howard University School of Divinity

"Bible-lovers, gender-transgressors of all sorts, people who love justice! Make haste to see Peterson Toscano's play Transfigurations as soon as possible! His biblical exegesis is insightful and accurate, and you will glean a whole new perspective painlessly because of his charming performance." -Virginia Mollenkott, Author of Omnigender

"In a word, Peterson is phenomenal. I was hooked in fifteen minutes. I sat there, watching him bring moments of scripture to life in ways I had not considered, and scrambled to figure out how soon I could bring him to my campus. It turns out, he’s even more delightful in person. His compassion matched by conviction and a wickedly smart sense of humor, a rare combination, make interactions with Peterson memorable, uplifting, and often life-changing." -Dr. Jennifer G Bird, PhD, Bible scholar, speaker, and author. www.permissiongrantedthebook.com

"As a Jewish Studies scholar, educator, and activist for TBLG inclusion in Jewish communities, it was a thrill to see confident transgender characters from the Hebrew scriptures given flesh via the performance activism of Peterson Toscano –and, more importantly, to recognize through his performance that those characters fulfilled social roles in Jewish communities as gender variant folk. Bring Transfigurations to your shul and create an opportunity to dialogue about present-day transgender people in Jewish communities." -Noach Dzmura, Editor, Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community, and Director, Jewish Transitions

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