Eisa Davis and the History of Light

I recently came across this quote by Eisa Davis from an interview and I want to share it with you:

“The most pressing social issue is and always has been compassion. How can we build a world based on this principle rather than on smash-and-grab?”

Compassion is a good word to describe Eisa’s new play THE HISTORY OF LIGHT. It is a compassionate love story and a compassionate story about an estranged father and daughter. She describes her play as a passionate fugue between fathers, daughters, lovers, and friends.

Eisa begins the play with a song that she wrote for her main character Soph:
(Sophia is finishing her set in a hip club. She sings at the piano, eyes closed, accompanying herself.)

Maybe I’ll say maybe tonight
It ain’t romance but it sure ain’t a fight
We pull the wool right over our own eyes
Might not be love but we can compromise

When we met I wasn’t feeling good
My heart lay still, in a coffin made of wood
You didn’t care, you didn’t want to be alone
And I wanted someone to call on the phone

( As the song progresses, the rueful aspect fades and she becomes possessed by something.)

When will we end this sour charade
I know the costs have already been weighed
We know too much and pretend we don’t know anything
What hurts more—to give up or do the same old thing

Maybe I’ll say maybe tonight
I don’t know if it’s wrong or if it’s right
There’s nothing left inside to tell me why
When you ask “Do you love me?” I say “Maybe,” tonight.

What a soulful beginning to a beautiful play. When I attended the Reading of THE HISTORY OF LIGHT at New Dramatists in New York in December I was blown away by this opening moment. I got chills and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I am looking forward to introducing you to Eisa Davis this summer. This is an artist who has found her voice and is compelled to share it..

I only produce plays that I am compelled to produce and I am compelled to produce The World Premiere of THE HISTORY OF LIGHT. I am passionate about this writer!

My friend, the playwright, Keith Glover first told me about Eisa Davis. Keith called me out of the blue from LA and said “Ed you have to read Eisa Davis. You need to know her plays…you need to meet her and produce her work”. So I read BULLRUSER (2007 Pulitzer Prize finalist)… I read ANGELA’S MIXTAPE…I read PAPER ARMOR and UMKOVU and then I called Emily Morse at New Dramatists in NY and she arranged a meeting. Eisa was performing in the Broadway hit PASSING STRANGE…where she was receiving critical acclaim. We had a great first meeting in the library at New Dramatists. We agreed that we would collaborate and produce the first production of UMKOVU, (a percussive love rant on the casualties of success).at CATF this season. But…she let me read an early draft of THE HISTORY OF LIGHT…and I change my mind…I loved UMKOVU…But I just knew that THE HISTORY OF LIGHT was the right fit for our 2009 Festival.

—Ed Herendeen