Seven (play)
{{Short description|Documentary play on women's rights}}
{{italic title}}
Seven is a documentary play, first performed in 2008, written by seven women playwrights based on interviews with seven women around the world who have fought for the rights and well-being of women and girls.{{cite web|title=Seven|url=http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=4059|publisher=Dramatists Play Service|accessdate=23 May 2016}}
The women
The women whose stories form the basis of Seven are all involved in the Vital Voices Global Partnership. They are:
- Hafsat Abiola, Nigeria, who founded the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy and works to improve relations between Chinese and African women; winner of 2016 Global Leadership Award for Leadership in Public Life{{cite web|title=Past Global Leadership Awards|url=http://www.vitalvoices.org/global-initiatives/past-global-leadership-awards|publisher=Vital Voices Global Partnership|accessdate=23 May 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027171231/http://www.vitalvoices.org/global-initiatives/past-global-leadership-awards|archivedate=27 October 2016}}
- Farida Azizi, Afghanistan, campaigner for women's rights and peace in her country
- Annabella De Leon, Guatemala, congresswoman and campaigner against corruption and for the rights of the poor; winner of 2003 Global Leadership Award for Political Participation
- Mukhtar Mai, Pakistan, survivor of a gang rape and campaigner for women's education; winner of 2006 Global Leadership Awards Fern Holland Award
- Inez McCormack, Northern Ireland, former president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions; winner of 2002 Global Leadership Award for Political Participation
- Marina Pisklakova-Parker, Russia, founder of first Russian hot-line for victims of domestic violence; winner of 2004 Global Leadership Award for Human Rights
- Mu Sochua, Cambodia, former Minister of Women's Affairs and campaigner against sex-trafficking; winner of 2005 Global Leadership Award for Human Rights
The playwrights
Development of the play
Each playwright worked with one of the women whose stories make up the play over a series of interviews in 2006–2007, and wrote a dramatic monologue based on these. The writers met in February 2007 to read the monologues together, and then worked them into a unified script during a Residency Fellowship retreat at Bard College. The first draft was read in July 2007.{{cite web|title=The Story of Seven|url=https://seventheplay.com/the-story-of-seven/|website=Seven - a documentary play|date=17 June 2014 |accessdate=23 May 2016}}
The play was first performed on 21 January 2008 at the 92nd Street Y in New York, directed by Evan Yionoulis. Since then it has been translated into 20 languages and performed in 32 countries, {{as of|lc=yes|May 2016}}.{{cite web|title=About Seven|url=https://seventheplay.com/about-seven/|website=Seven - a documentary play|date=15 June 2014 |accessdate=23 May 2016}}
Some productions have involved well-known professional actors, as when Meryl Streep read the part of Inez McCormack at the Hudson Theatre on New York's Broadway.{{cite news|last1=Robinson|first1=Mary|title=Inez McCormack obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/feb/01/inez-mccormack|accessdate=23 May 2016|work=The Guardian|date=1 February 2013}}{{cite news|last1=McGarrigle|first1=Heather|title=Why Meryl Streep needs to get an Northern Ireland accent|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/why-meryl-streep-needs-to-get-an-northern-ireland-accent-28521288.html|accessdate=23 May 2016|work=Belfast Telegraph|date=2 March 2010}} Other productions have involved amateur groups or public figures, as when a group of senior Belarus government ministers performed it in Minsk in 2015{{cite news|title=Belarus' high-ranking officials take part in documentary play on women's rights|url=http://eng.belta.by/society/view/belarus-high-ranking-officials-take-part-in-documentary-play-on-womens-rights-86699-2015/|accessdate=23 May 2016|work=Belarus News|date=3 November 2015}} and Washington Supreme Court justice Mary Yu read the part of Farida Azizi at Town Hall Seattle in 2016.{{cite web|last1=Gruener|first1=Posey|title=For One Night, A Washington Supreme Court Justice Will Step Into An Afghan Woman's Shoes|url=http://kuow.org/post/one-night-washington-supreme-court-justice-will-step-afghan-womans-shoes|publisher=KUOW.org|accessdate=23 May 2016|date=3 March 2016}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|https://seventheplay.com/}}
- {{IMDb title|14096980}}
Category:Biographical plays about activists
Category:Cultural depictions of activists
Category:Cultural depictions of women
Category:Cultural depictions of Nigerian people
Category:Cultural depictions of Pakistani people
Category:Cultural depictions of Afghan people
Category:Cultural depictions of British people
Category:Cultural depictions of Russian people