Gabe Moses presented a stunning interpretation of Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” at The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Rather than standing at a podium, Moses defied expectations (at least mine, anyway) and transformed the poetic words into a performance piece, including interpretive dance. The effect was emotional and extraordinary.

The Douglass speech was given new resonance in Moses’ emphasis, from joyful to humorous to cajoling to admonishing to pleading to crying. What’s more, there were pauses, silences, stillness to let the words sink in. Douglass made a convincing argument. Of that, there is no argument.

Moses’ one-man performance was presented once, July 1, 2023, in Schubert Theater, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, during Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s inaugural “Community Day” on the DeSales University campus. Lighting for the performance was by Alicia Brogan.

Frederick Douglass wrote and delivered the speech July 5, 1852, in Rochester, N.Y., during a meeting of the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society.

United States President Abraham Lincoln’s “Emancipation Proclamation” was Jan. 1, 1863. The U.S. Congress passed the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the U.S., Jan. 31, 1865, and ratified it Dec. 6, 1865.

Moses breathes truth and consequence into Douglass’ words, which not unlike Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” (1729), brings the genius of hyperbole to demolish the mantle of hypocrisy for reader and listener.

Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” is in the lexicon of great speeches in American studies, alongside Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” Nov. 19, 1863; Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream,“ Aug. 28, 1963, and President John F. Kennedy’s’ “Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You,” Jan. 20, 1961.

That Gabe Moses would not have been a free man some 159 years ago was not lost on this theater-goer, nor, dare I say, on Moses, who took on the roles of flag banner-draped onlooker at Fourth of July fireworks (replete with visual and sound effects), blindfolded, presumably enslaved, person, and a man dancing on tiptoes of freedom as the theater sound system played a recording of Sam Cooke singing “Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen” (1963), an African-American spiritual song said to have originated during the period of slavery and published in 1867.

Moses sang a cappella a portion of “Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen” in a voice booming and beautiful toward the conclusion of the approximate 40-minute performance.

A recording of Nina Simone singing the Billy Taylor composition, “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free” (1967), concludes the performance with an upbeat sendoff.

As a person of white privilege, I have no way of knowing the inner anguish of Douglass’ speech. Seeing and hearing Gabe Moses’ interpretation of “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” furthered my understanding.

I didn’t attend July 4th fireworks displays in 2023. Instead, I stayed in the house. I thought about Gabe Moses’ performance. I thought about the holiday, about the lives lost, about the freedom I have enjoyed so easily and perhaps so thoughtlessly. My naïveté about the national holiday cracked like the windshield of my vehicle parked in front of my house, presumably from errant fireworks or a firecracker on the night of July 4, 2023.

Gabe Moses’ performance of “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” would be excellent for students to experience. A study guide and post-performance discussion could be included. A National Endowment for the Arts grant is deserved.

Hopefully, Gabe Moses’ performance of “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” can be presented during the 2024 Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Gabe Moses sets off real fireworks. He is the fireworks.