“Riveting, explosive and inspiring drama … starkly emotive … reaffirm[s] the belief that one person could indeed make a difference.”
— Huffington Post
In the midst of fighting a global pandemic, the entertainment and arts industries have come to a standstill. Theater, a traditionally live experience, is especially facing challenges.
But lifelong feminist and theater producer Susan Loewenberg of L.A. Theatre Works finds her organization in a unique position: The company produces audio productions of famous plays with household-named entertainment figures.
Through L.A. Theatre Works’s content, even without live experiences, students, podcast-listeners and the general public can continue to consume theater during quarantine—without having to pay for a ticket.
One of these audio theater performances is SEVEN.
A riveting piece of documentary theater, SEVEN tells the true stories of seven women who bravely fought for the well-being of women, families and children around the globe:
- in Russia, protecting women from domestic violence;
- in Cambodia, rescuing girls from human trafficking;
- in Guatemala, giving voice to the poor;
- in Afghanistan, empowering rural women;
- in Nigeria and Pakistan, fighting for women’s education and rights; and
- in Northern Ireland, promoting peace and equality.
“SEVEN brilliantly illuminates the lives and extraordinary acts of courage of seven real women,” Loewenberg told Ms. “It was my honor and pleasure to work with the seven playwrights who captured each individual story and to integrate them into a compelling dramatic work with the help of our wonderful director and seven superb actors who expertly and lovingly brought these stories to life.
“Our recording of SEVEN was a perfect fit for The Feminist Majority Foundation which celebrates the power, compassion and truth telling that characterizes our feminist majority.”
Listen to the entire play here—and read more about it below!
According to L.A. Theatre Works:
SEVEN is a riveting documentary play by seven female writers based on personal interviews with seven remarkable women who faced life-threatening obstacles before bringing heroic changes to their home countries of Pakistan, Nigeria, Ireland, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Russia and Cambodia.
Playwrights Carol K. Mack (who conceived the play), Anna Deavere Smith, Paula Cizmar, Catherine Filloux, Gail Kriegel, Ruth Margraff, and Susan Yankowitz collaborated to create a tapestry of stories that weave together the words of these women, dramatizing their struggles and triumphs over resistance, death threats, entrenched norms and pervasive violence. Since the premiere in 2008, the piece has been translated into 27 languages and performed worldwide in over 30 countries, sharing with an international audience these inspiring tales of bravery and perseverance.
SEVEN makes the powerful and timeless statement that even in the darkest times, one person, one voice, and a single act of courage, can change the lives of thousands.
SEVEN was created with the support of the Vital Voices Global Partnership, the preeminent non-governmental organization (NGO) that identifies, trains and empowers extraordinary women around the world by unleashing their leadership potential to transform lives and accelerate peace and prosperity in their communities. These women have returned home to train and mentor more than 500,000 additional women and girls in their communities. They are the Vital Voices of our time.
