| | | | | Hearts of Freedom |  |
 Hearts of Freedom is an original, full-length musical, conceived, written and composed by Unexpected Company partners Brian R. Lynner and Lisa Norris. The musical tells the story of two couples – one in the North, the other in the South – who fall in love during the tumultuous years of the U.S. Civil War. It is also the story of Elijah, a slave who makes his way out of slavery to freedom on the Underground Railroad. The production contains over 15 original musical numbers that explore duty, honor, patriotism and courage, as well as love, loss, and the true meaning of freedom.
How is a new play developed?
The genesis of Hearts of Freedom began in the year 2000, when Brian Lynner and Lisa Norris began working on a stage adaptation of Stephen Vincent Benet’s epic Civil War poem, John Brown’s Body. After much research and struggle trying to adapt the enormous subject matter, the project split into two separate performance pieces: a history-based touring show called Voices of the Civil War, and a completely original musical, Hearts of Freedom. The first draft of the show was completed in 2002, and produced as an informal workshop/staged reading for the Drama Workshop in the Civic Center’s Stoner Studio Theatre. It opened in March of 2003, at the outset of the war in Iraq.
“When we did the first workshop, the country was in such a patriotic fervor, both Brian and I felt that it hurt the commercial viability of the show,” says Norris. “When you’re just embarking on a war, the last thing people want is to be reminded of how horrible war can be. We also discovered that we had been very one-sided in our point of view – very anti-war – and that made us feel like there was something missing.” The project went back to the drawing board for a couple of years, and Lynner and Norris worked on it sporadically while they pursued other theatre projects. In 2006, feeling the shift in the cultural attitude towards the war in Iraq, they began a complete overhaul of both script and score. Songs were cut, some new songs were added, and the plot has changed radically from the original draft of the script. “It feels like a completely different play now,” says Norris.
The political climate has changed, too. “There are so many parallels between what has happened with Iraq and the Civil War,” says Lynner. “Here’s a conflict that everyone thought would be over quickly but went on for years, where a soldier’s original term of enlistment was extended far beyond his original contract. As we were researching the show, we found so many examples of political propaganda used during the Civil War that could have been written yesterday. I think that there are many elements in this production that are going to strike a chord with people, regardless of their political ideology. War has an effect on everyone, in both positive and negative ways, and I think we’ve tried to balance that in this incarnation of the show.”
The Audience is Part of The Process
In 2008, Hearts of Freedom was again presented in workshop performances at the Iowa Public Theatre in the State Historical Museum, and at Westminster Presbyterian Church. The workshop was an important part of an ongoing development process for the musical. Theatre is a living art form – it requires the participation of both those on stage and those in an audience to be complete. One of the most invaluable assets to the development process of a new play is to have it performed before an audience. “We feel it’s crucial to get the work on its feet, to be able to see what works well for an audience, and where you need to make refinements. Producing a musical in its completely realized form is a very costly venture. A workshop allows us to take the next step in ensuring what we have is of high quality before shopping the show to producers or investors.” Hearts of Freedom was presented concert-style – no sets or costumes – just a presentation of the complete script and musical score performed by local actors and singers. Audiences were requested to complete an online survey after attending the production and give the company feedback on the show. The project was supported in part by a grant from the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Thanks also to our project partners, the State Historical Society of Iowa and Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Hearts of Freedom is still in development for its next incarnation - a full production - but Brian and Lisa have taken a break from the show in order to gain some perspective and to work on other projects, including the upcoming production of Thursday's Children.
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