Timeless Storytelling Lessons from Hadestown: What Writers Can Learn from the Broadway Hit
How Hadestown Uses Timeless Storytelling to Captivate and Inspire Writers
As I left the performance of the Broadway touring production of Hadestown at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC), it left me thinking about the storytelling techniques that made it such an incredible show. I was astounded by the music and the performances, the sets and visuals, the sound effects and songs, the choreography and direction. I couldn’t help but think about why it pushed the buttons in me that it pushed. As I reflected, I thought about the timeless storytelling techniques that Anais Mitchell used, particularly that of myth, tragedy, symbolism, perspective, and hope. No matter what you write, I think there are lessons here for creating unforgettable stories that touch readers and viewers, just as this performance touched me.
Retelling Timeless Myths: How Hadestown Proves the Power of Universal Themes in Storytelling
I, like you, first read the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice when I was in Junior High if not High School. The story itself has been told for thousands of years. So why tell it again? There’s value in that question. Why repeat a story over and over? As I lay in bed thinking about it the night after the performance, I concluded that our entrancement is because the story taps into universal truths such as love, loss, longing, and the oftentimes impossible dream of changing fate. Universal truths are so powerful that they transcend millenniums and perplex, inspire, and frustrate each generation as much as the generations before. With a story like Hadestown, we are not just retelling a myth but living it freshly. Every telling and update is a reshaping for its respective modern audience. In Hadestown’s and our own time, Mitchell hits the themes of labor, oppression, and resistance, but for any generation, it could be anything if it hits on those universal principles of love, loss, longing, and the complexity of fate versus choice.
Whenever I read or see a story, I can’t help but reflect on how I can apply what works in this story with what I want to work in mine. What about you? How can you tap into these universal and timeless themes in your work? Shakespeare made an industry out of it. So have many other writers. Even though they disguise them, I might even speculate that most successful stories are based on the foundations of the timeless ones that have come before. For your work, consider drawing inspiration from mythology (as Mitchell has), folklore, or history (which does repeat over and over). As you read, reflect. What classic stories and tales mirror the struggles that exist in our generation, and how can you, as a writer, not copy these but instead adapt them and use them to reinterpret timeless stories in your own way? Try it out as an exercise. Pick a myth or legend that resonates with you. Rewrite it in a modern setting or from an unexpected perspective. You don’t have to create a novel, screenplay, or musical. Make it a short story or a poem, but make it timeless yet fresh in the world we live in today.
The Power of Inevitable Tragedy: How Hadestown Teaches Writers to Make Readers Hope Against Hope
Interestingly, one of Hadestown’s greatest strengths is that we already know how the story is going to end. Still, as I sat and watched Orpheus climb the last step into the upper world, I prayed he would not turn around, that Mitchell would somehow find a loophole to make the ending different. We know the ending, yet we hope for something different. Even if we don’t know the story or the ending, we want the lovers to succeed and win. We’re on the edge of our seats (I was). That’s the power and universality of inevitability in storytelling. When we see it is going badly, we still hope against hope that the ending will come the way we want. In this case, we know Orpheus will look back. If Mitchell stays true to the story, Orpheus will lose Eurydice. But darn it, I wanted to believe something different. I wanted to believe, just for a moment, that the ending would change and maybe it would be new this time.
Most know I love and write Southern Gothic, and you cannot have Southern Gothic without tragedy. Watching Hadestown made me reflect on how I handle tragedy, which I deal with often, in my stories. Tragedy doesn’t have to mean hopelessness. Instead, I think, as Hadestown shows, tragedy makes us wish for a different outcome, even when we know it is impossible. That’s powerful storytelling. It creates not only the conflict of the story but also the conflict within the reader’s heart. I hope that when you write, you take advantage of inevitable narrative failures in your own stories. They build tension by making readers hope—even if they cannot have—different outcomes, even when they know it is impossible. Take a moment of inevitable failure in your story and build tension by making readers long for a different result, even if, deep down, they know it is not going to come. This is life.
The Wall as a Storytelling Symbol: How Hadestown Uses Theme and Metaphor to Deepen Its Narrative
One of the most uncomfortable moments for me in the musical was the song “Why We Build the Wall.” It was hypnotic. Chilling. Hades has convinced workers that the wall they build between themselves in the underworld and the upperworld is for their protection, and they have bought it and signed their souls over for it, when, in reality, the wall is what keeps them trapped. The mesmerizing power of this song and how it was presented in dance and score emphasizes the power of theme, for this is what the story is about. Choices were made to protect, but instead, those choices entrapped. This is a brilliant use of theme-driven storytelling. I’d go so far as to say a story without a theme is purposeless. We need a theme. Not a theme that beats a reader over the head, but a theme that tears them at their core. In Hadestown, the wall is more than a structure. It is a metaphor for oppression, fear, and the illusion of security, which provides the foundation upon which the rest of the musical is built.
I hope that as you write, you have symbols running through your work. Look for them and enhance them. The best stories repeat imagery and symbolism to deepen their themes. In other essays, I discuss how to do this. Look at your current project. Do you reinforce your message using physical objects, motifs, or recurring images? Look at the central theme in your story. If you can’t state it clearly, ponder it until you can. Then, look for symbols that embody that theme and weave it naturally throughout your narrative. Themes are most potent when they are not stated directly. Intentionally write them so the reader discovers them for themselves without you telling them.
Why We Tell the Story: Making Universal Narratives Uniquely Yours
Hermes, the narrator, reminds us at the end, “It’s an old song. It’s a sad song. But we sing it anyway.” And we do, and they did. This is one of the most profound truths about storytelling. We tell the same stories over and over. Why? Because they matter. This is the universality that I wrote about earlier. Hadestown plays off this directly. This play even begins to repeat its telling at the end, hoping for a different ending. Throughout all the tellings over centuries, when the story starts, it is never the first time Orpheus tries to save Eurydice. It will continue to be retold until Orpheus finally gets his song (and actions and heart) right. This performance won’t be the last, either.
There must be something powerful about why you are telling your story right now. Your story must be worth telling. Can you explain why that is? Even if your plot is familiar, you make all the difference. It is your take, your heart, your beliefs, your hopes. You make the retelling of any universal story unique, and that’s why the story itself is exceptional, even if it is underscored with universal themes. Detective stories, love stories, a hero’s journey, all of these have been done before. But it is your voice, your structure, your characters, and your heart that makes it feel brand new. Do not hide from universal themes. Use them, but then infuse them with you. Find a familiar trope in your genre or your current work in progress. Are you telling it freshly, as only you can tell it? If not, how can you flip it and tell it from a new point of view: yours? How can you make it fresh? That comes from your heart and your voice and nowhere else. The story may be similar, but your story has never been told, nor will it ever be told again by anyone other than you.
Hope in the Face of Despair: Why Tragic Stories Can Still Inspire
Despite the tragic ending (sorry for the spoiler), Hadestown is ultimately and ironically a story about hope. Even as Orpheus fails, even as Eurydice is lost, the story continues, and, like every generation, the story repeats. And the next time, or the next, maybe, just maybe, the ending will change if we ever get our song right. This is a powerful lesson for writers. Even when telling dark or heartbreaking stories, there is always a reason to tell them and maybe retell them. Stories remind us that not all are roses. Some are about failure. This is life. This is true. This is telling the truth as a writer. Honest storytelling gives meaning to life and disappointment, not only to glorifying happy endings.
When I write, and when you write, I hope we leave the reader something to hold onto, even if it is not a happy ending but the right ending. The proper ending meant that the story had a purpose. Things played out only as they could play out. The one thing that needs to be repeated here is hope. Always leave hope. That’s what I left the theater with. That’s what I’m thinking about as I write these words. Maybe next time—I hope—the two lovers will find their happy ending. If your story has a tragic ending, always look for hope. That’s the thing the readers will remember. It will be happy, if … That’s what lives with readers.
Standout Performances and Stunning Talent
Beyond the excellent telling of Anais Mitchell, musicals always need a great cast to pull it off. In the production I saw, Nickolaus Colon as Hades was mesmerizing, delivering a chilling yet charismatic ruler whose voice echoed with power and control (loved his voice); Megan Colton as Eurydice was stunning, capturing the raw vulnerability of a woman forced to make impossible choices (what a set of lungs); Jaylon C. Crump as Hermes was a dynamic narrator, his storytelling drawing the audience into the cycle of fate; Namisa Mdlalose Bizana as Persephone electrified the stage, her fire, and defiance burning through every note; Bryan Munar as Orpheus was heartbreaking, his soaring vocals embodying the pure hope of a dreamer (loved his sensitivity); and the chorus collectively played a starring role themselves.
Hadestown left me inspired to write better, deeper, and more meaningfully. As a writer, I walked away with several truths, but one that was overarching and one I talk about often: we tell stories because we believe they can change the world. So, in the theme of Hadestown, we tell them again. And again. And again.
I’d love to hear from you. Email me and tell me how your story is written to pierce your reader’s heart.
