In Conversation with Isabelle davis | The Eternally Hopeful

In this week's Backstage Blog interview, we spoke to Isabelle Davis, the Writer, Director, Producer and Swing of The Eternally Hopeful, a gorgeous song cycle invesigating hope in our modern time, which opens at Explosives Factory later this month.

While there's life, there's hope." - Cicero. Isabelle Davis, in partnership with Fresh Works, premieres The Eternally Hopeful, a compelling new song cycle featuring four actors and a piano. The exploration of hope through multiple mini narratives theorises that humans are inherently hopeful, culminating in a 50 minute collection of songs and stories that either expose the hidden optimist in each of us - or truly affirm our pessimism.  

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Q: Welcome to Theatre Works! How are rehearsals going? How has everything been shaping up as you prepare to debut The Eternally Hopeful?

ISABELLE: This production is shaping up so beautifully. The cast have come to rehearsals prepared and open, and hearing them sing all of the material the first time was incredibly profound. They'd each brought so much to the work already, from the first workshop, which as a director is such a treat; I have so much to work with.

Q: To endulge briefly in cliche, hope is a rare and expensive commodity in a world where hatred is ro rampant and apparent. Where do you think this show positions the role of hope when our everyday can begin to feel so hopeless?

ISABELLE: My intention for the show is that it firmly positions hope as ever present and quietly enduring. The more we work on this show, the more I question whether hope is a choice (a way we choose to view the world), or whether it is innate, and exists within us without our full awareness. We are obviously living in an extremely turbulent time, and when I tell people about the premise of the show, many of them say "Good. We all need hope right now". I am hopeful that this show leaves audiences to realise that it was there all along. I think what will be interesting for audiences is how their take-aways vary. Everyone perceives, navigates and interprets the world uniquely, some of which is within a person's control, some of which is not. So, I am curious to see what these stories of hope move and reveal in each of us.

Q: To lead on from that, what made you decide to tell this story? And how did you decide this was the way to tell it?

ISABELLE: Being a collection of stories, The Eternally Hopeful has been inspired by so many things - books, people, experiences. But at it's heart, I wanted to tell a story that hope can and does exist alongside the hardships, suffering, and challenges life has to offer. The state of the world is incredibly distressing. People need (or perhaps, I need) to beleive that hope remains. This is why I wanted to write and share these stories. And why songs? In short, songs are how I interpret the world and my place in it. But a longer pondering? Someone heard me humming at work the other day and said to me "Isn't it amazing that you are humming over there, and I experience that physically over here? Your hum, your music, has traveled to my body and changed it." I'd never thought of music as something physical before, but her comment struck me so profoundly. These stories being told through song allows the music to enhance them, gives them a greater context, and perhaps also makes them easier to swallow.

Q: What will surprise audiences about this work?

ISABELLE: There are moments of utter heartbreak in this show. And I think this will surprise audiences because in a way, it surprised me. I wrote all of this material with hope in my heart, but the choices and the groundedness the cast are finding throughout rehearsals take my breath away and I am confident will do the same for our audiences.

Q: What has been the most memorable moment in your process so far?

ISABELLE: Hope is the thing with feathers - is a poem by Emily Dickinson I have composed a 3 part vocal arrangement for within the show. Hearing that for the first time at our workshop, sung by Kate Allnutt, Hamish Pattended and Sam Dyer (our super swing), just knocked me off my feet. I'd only ever heard recordings of me singing all three parts, or even worse, the cursed MuseScore 'voice' sound hooting it out, so hearing humans sing it with heart, soul and hope was incredible. I'll never forget that feeling.

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The Eternally Hopeful plays at Explosives Factory 22-26 September.

Click here to get your tickets!