The Rape of Lucrece by the Philadelphia Artists Collective
Philadelphia Artists Collective Co-founder Dan Hodge performed the haunting poem by Shakespeare in 2016 for the Fringe Festival at the Broad Street Ministry. The lighting was almost pitch black with only a candle. The actor recited the poem with intense emotion and the manifestation of a feminine character, Lucrecia. The synopsis in the beginning explained the relationship of the King and a Duke that transcends into a dreadful scene. The rape and the mental trap that descended from the crime exposed a madness. From the victim we find a life not worth living, and from the intruder a deteriorating lapse in judgement.
In 2018 at the Rosenbach Museum Dan Hodge was invited to perform this one man show. With the exception of a candle because of a fire code because of the priceless art and rare book collection. Without the lighting, props, or ambience that the original performance demonstrated Hodge decided to rework his creation.
You can imagine that this would be a straight poetry reading. Hodge went into this performance not knowing what he would do exactly, but that was the point to explore the text in the museum setting. With even more limitations I was given the chance to hear every word, and the text is what always pricks me with Shakespeare. The language comes alive and this duality of action and speech awakens every movement, every twist, and every breath.
Shakespeare wrote this poem to a "T" that grabs the tits and balls. I watched in horror even more in the brightly lit space than before, when the lights were off. At every eye that twitched, a wrist bent behind his back, and sweat running down his forehead there was an urge to look away but, we were waiting for his every move. The trans that took Hodge down a dark path of human delinquency brought out a feminist message I have never seen. heard, or imagined.
That is, a man scared of his own consciousness, and what he must live with after what he has done. The history of a man's mistake, and the doom in the moment of his worst time. The moment when he has lost all control and it is in rapture that destroys him.
