Class Notes: Eisa Davis from “The Essentialisn’t”

Summary

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BroadwayRadio: Class Notes

Episode: Eisa Davis from “The Essentialisn’t”

Host: Lauren Klass Snyder
Guest: Eisa Davis
Date: September 16, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode of BroadwayRadio’s “Class Notes,” host Lauren Klass Snyder sits down with Eisa Davis—playwright, composer, performer, and star of “The Essentialisn’t,” now playing at The Here Mainstage. The conversation delves into Davis’s provocative new work, which interrogates the obligations placed on Black women to "perform," both on stage and in life. The discussion explores the creative evolution of the show, the heavy-hitting institutions that supported it, Davis’s musical motivations, and her philosophy as an artist and collaborator.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Central Question: “Can you be Black and not perform?”

• [00:17] Eisa Davis discusses the foundational question of her piece:
  • The show asks whether Black individuals, especially women, must always “perform”—and offers a multi-layered response.
  • “The first answer that happens in the piece is no, that you do have to perform. But then the piece itself begins to actually offer ways of not performing on stage that I think we really get to have a lot of fun with.” (Eisa Davis, [00:25])
• The piece is described as both humorous and intimate, blending music, parody, physical theater, and personal storytelling.
• Davis reflects on how performance for Black women is shaped by both joy and constraint—typecasting, systemic stereotypes, and the pressures of representation.

The Show’s Structure and Aesthetics

• [01:40] The show combines Davis’s interests:
  • “It brings together the things that I love the most, which is, you know, music and movement and beautiful, striking aesthetics and performing with wonderful actors and playing piano.”
• As creator, star, and director, Davis says the piece allows her to “have all of the fun” she’s ever experienced in performance, while also interrogating the burdens intertwined with that joy.

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Institutional Support and a Decade-Long Journey

• [03:12] The show is supported by a veritable “who’s who” of arts organizations: The Public Theater, Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, Park Avenue Armory, US Artists Fellowship, and Creative Capital Foundation.
• Long Development Timeline:
  • “It first started out as a commission at Symphony Space, and it was much more of a conventional musical, then about a conceptual artist. And then as I began to work on the music more, the world changed. Things in my life changed. … It became a conceptual art piece itself.” (Eisa Davis, [03:33])
  • Davis evolved from writing within “conventional” musical frameworks to exploring more abstract, interactive forms.
• Key Workshop and Installation Milestones:
  • Notable support from Sundance Lab and Performance Space New York.
  • “It’s because of all of those orgs supporting the piece and having trust and faith in me as an artist that we’re able to do this Creative Capital supported premiere.” ([05:36])

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The Musical and Conceptual Impulse

• [06:03] Davis’s initial creative drive was rooted in music:
  • “I just wanted to write some really beautiful songs. … And so the impulse really, again, was musical more than anything. And so then I had to justify that music by having the story.”
• Over time, these musical seeds grew into a piece exploring identity, both personal and societal—through “issues around identity… these are things I have long studied.”
• Form and Flexibility:
  • The show is intentionally “fragmented and linked together via theme, via association,” with the potential to keep evolving.
  • “There are all these different ways that the piece could continue to grow. I could take one thing out and add another thing. ... That’s the nature of this piece, is that it. It asks this question, but it’s almost vast and infinite in the sense of what could actually be a case study, you know, a new song or a new kind of scene that. That asks this question again and again in new ways.” ([07:59])

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Eisa Davis as Performer in Others’ Works

• [08:46] Lauren cites Davis’s acclaimed roles in “Passing Strange” and “The Secret Life of Bees,” raising the question of how Davis navigates performing work by others.
• Davis’s take:
  • “Because I am a writer … then I just try to do the same for all of the wonderful creators that I work with, whether that is … [on] Secret Life of Bees… or with Passing Strange, ... or [Preludes at Lincoln Center]. What I love to do is to really just stand in the feet of the character and just try and ask the questions that help the character’s journey.” ([09:10])
  • As an experienced playwright, Davis approaches her roles as both actor and dramaturg—always seeking to contribute positively to the room.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Premise of “The Essentialisn’t”:

  • “There are certain levels of typecasting that I’ve had because of how I look, and also just all of the systemic issues for why a particular black woman that looks like me gets asked to behave in a certain way. Those things are constraints on the liberation that can be there when you’re on a stage and when you’re in life.” (Eisa Davis, [02:41])

• On Long-Term Artistic Freedom:

  • “Because of all of that time, because of all of that freedom that all of those organizations gave me to just keep thinking through the questions with resources and the time that you get to have where you are only working on this piece, I was able to get to the point where we are now.” (Eisa Davis, [04:37])

• On Collaborating With Other Visionaries:

  • “I love being able to help other people bring their visions to life. And so I just. I just love that process so very much. And I just try to imagine what kind of collaborator I would want in a room and try to be that.” ([10:25])

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Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:17–03:10: Davis discusses the core theme of “performance” and its complexities for Black women.
• 03:12–05:43: The show’s prestigious institutional support and development history.
• 06:03–08:46: Musical roots of the show and its evolving narrative form.
• 08:46–10:53: Davis’s philosophy as a collaborator and actor in other creators’ works.

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Conclusion

This episode offers a thought-provoking look into Eisa Davis’s artistic process behind “The Essentialisn’t”—a work that threads the tensions of art, identity, liberation, and representation. With candor and critical insight, Davis shares her journey from musical impulse to thematic exploration, highlighting the communal and institutional scaffolding necessary for experimental theater to thrive. Her vision of collaboration and freedom, both as a creator and performer, resounds as a call for honest artistry and transformative support within the creative ecosystem.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Hi, I'm Lauren Klass Snyder with Class Notes for Broadway Radio. I'm here with Issa Davis, writer and star in the Essential Isn't At Here mainstage. Hello.

[A]

Hi there.

[B]

Well, thank you for being here. And let's talk about this question. Can you be black and not perform?

[A]

Yes. The central question of the piece, and yes, you know, we really don't answer that one way or the other. The first answer that happens in the piece is no, that you do have to perform. But then the piece itself begins to actually offer ways of not performing on stage that I think we really get to have a lot of fun with. You know, there's just so much humor and clowning and parody in the show. There's just so much music. And there's also, you know, some intimate, personal moments as well in the consideration of this question. So it's really a wide ranging but very tight show. If you can sort of see both of those things together. It brings together the things that I love the most, which is, you know, music and movement and beautiful, striking aesthetics and performing with wonderful actors and playing piano. It's something I grew up doing and, and, you know, I'm the creator of this piece and, and directed it as well. So it's just that I just. Just get to have all of the fun that I have gotten to have over the years in performance and also examine the burdens that are within that. That same love. You know, when you. You love something, you might end up doing things that don't necessarily go along with the original principle of what it was that you do. You know, and. And I think that there are ways that I love to perform as a kid and then, you know, as I've gotten older and there are certain levels of typecasting that I've had because of how I look, and also just all of the systemic issues for why a particular black woman that looks like me gets asked to behave in a certain way. Those things are constraints on the liberation that can be there when you're on a stage and when you're in life. And so it's just playing with all of that in a really, really fun and thoughtful and critical in the best sense way.

[B]

Well, and the piece is being supported by, I would say, the who's who in Creative New York, including the Public Theater, the Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, the Park Avenue Armory, US Artist Fellowship, Creative Capital Foundation. I feel like I could go on and on. How did you secure support from so many notable organizations?

[A]

Well, it's because the piece has A really long tail. I've been at this for a while, Lauren. I have been working on the piece in all of these different iterations at all of these different places over the last decade. So it first started out as a commission at Symphony Space, and it was much more of a conventional musical, then about a conceptual artist. And then as I began to work on the music more, the world changed. Things in my life changed. Um, I just kept going with writing music, did a workshop under the auspices of the public, but then it started to become more abstract. It became a conceptual art piece itself. So it's as if the character I was playing, suddenly I actually became that character and started making pieces in the way that she would. And so I got to. You know, we just lost Robert Redford, and, you know, he created the Sundance Labs. And so I got to work on it at Sundance Theater Lab, as I got to work on it at all the places that you're talking about over the years. And because of all of that time, because of all of that freedom that all of those organizations gave me to just keep thinking through the questions with resources and the time that you get to have where you are only working on the. This piece, I was able to get to the point where we are now with having done a workshop production of it a couple years ago at Jack in Brooklyn, and also, yeah, Performance Space New York did an installation version in 2021, before our theaters were back open again. So it's because of all of those orgs supporting the piece and having trust and faith in me as an artist that we're able to do this Creative Capital supported premiere.

[B]

Incredible here. Yeah. Well, you've written a rebellious piece driven by original pulsing music that you've talked about that troubles the obligations that a black woman's body has to perform. Going back 10 years, when you began it, what was the impulse behind writing it?

[A]

I think, you know, I just wanted to. I wanted to write some really beautiful songs. And that was something that, you know, you needed to have an excuse for. Like, and that's, of course, what book of a musical is, or what the characters in a musical do, is they are the ones who determine why the music happens. Right. And so the impulse really, again, was musical more than anything. And so then I had to justify that music by having the story. But, you know, the story and the characters. You know, when you are working under the kind of time constraints that I was working under when I first wrote it for the Symphony Space Workshop and presentation, I. I just. I. I just went straight to Things that I was interested in, which, you know, were issues around identity, issues around. You know, these are things that I have long studied. You know, I've long been interested in when it comes to seeing other artworks that do this. And I. I just also was feeling how these same questions of identity were playing out in my own life. And so the impulse really just kind of came from. It was almost like I was just, you know, picking up pickup sticks from the floor. All of these things that had been on my mind, and then I got to organize them into a narrative. And then, like I said, the narrative itself started to explode. And then it became much more of a. A piece that is fragmented and is linked together via theme, via association. There are all these different ways that the piece could continue to grow. I could take one thing out and add another thing. I mean, of course, my lighting design would not let me do that at this point, now that we're open. But that's the nature of this piece, is that it. It asks this question, but it's almost vast and infinite in the sense of what could actually be a case study, you know, a new song or a new kind of scene that. That asks this question again and again in new ways.

[B]

Last question. You've performed in two of my favorites, Passing Strange and the Secret Life of Bees.

[A]

Oh, that's so great that you saw both of them. I'm so happy to hear that.

[B]

Yes. And I'm just sort of curious for you as a creator walking into someone else's piece. How do you navigate your own creative thoughts when you're playing a different role?

[A]

Actually, yes. Really great question. Because I am a writer, a playwright, and have other folks who are making my visions come true and are collaborating with me and asking me all of the questions that I've never thought about as I've created it, you know, then I just try to do the same for all of the wonderful creators that I work with, Whether that is, you know, in Secret Life of Bees, of course, that was Lynn Nottage and Susan Birkenhead and Chic. Or with Passing Strange, it was Stu and Heidi Rodewald, or, you know, getting to work with Dave Malloy and Rachel Chavkin on this really wonderful piece called Preludes that we did at Lincoln Center. What I love to do is to really just stand in the feet of the character and just try and ask the questions that help the character's journey. And because I'm also a writer and creator, I like to also think about the whole of the work and dramaturgical questions that will help the piece are ones that I will offer if they are accepted, you know, and so I just. I love being able to help other people bring their visions to life. And so I just. I just love that process so very much. And I just try to imagine what kind of collaborator I would want in a room and try to be that.

[B]

Oh, how gracious. They must love having you, no doubt.

[A]

I hope so.

[B]

This has been wonderful. Thank you.

[A]

Isaac, thank you so much.

[B]

Appreciate it. Lauren. I'm Lauren Klashchneider with Issa Davis, writer and star in the Essential isn't at the here main stage. Thank you.