Seven Sisters at Dramatic Repertory Company

A hymn to the beauty and magnitude of ordinary women, Dramatic Repertory Company’s 16th season production explores sisterhood, love, loss and aging; all with humor, compassion and a healthy dose of snark.

DRC is proud to present the world premiere of SEVEN SISTERS by Lynne Conner, running October 2nd through 11th at the Studio Theater at Portland Stage. Directed by Abigail Killeen, this lyrical play focuses on the challenges and joys of seven sisters born into rural poverty in the early twentieth century.

Moving back and forth between July 1936 and July 2022, each actor plays one sister from childhood into old age. In the over the 35 years that playwright Lynne Conner has been a working playwright, all of her plays have focused in some way on the interior lives of women: “It’s been my mission to center female characters and to give them voice and make them heard. When I began to ponder writing about my mother and her six sisters, I thought about how powerful it would be for audiences to witness seven actresses bringing these characters to life. It’s not very often that we see a play featuring a large group of women (characters and actors) in this way.”

This is director Abigail Killeen’s third collaboration with Lynne and her third with Dramatic Repertory Company. She is drawn to this piece because “Lynne exhibits subtlety and rich humanity in her writing. It’s rare that women get to encompass their full, complicated selves onstage! I’m grateful that DRC, for fifteen years now, is committed to new work. SEVEN SISTERS gives women space onstage to have their say, in the way countless women have for generations: with the fierce dignity of a simple life well lived.”

Since 2011, Dramatic Repertory Company has built a reputation for producing bold, intimate theater featuring top local talent, including many plays that amplify underrepresented voices. Artistic Director Keith Powell Beyland is “really pleased to be able to bring SEVEN SISTERS to our audiences for DRC’s 16th season. Our world premiere of Conner’s THE MOTHER was cut short in March 2020, so I’m thrilled to have this team assembled to bring another of her plays to life.”

With a limited run of only eight performances this October, don’t miss your opportunity to experience this smart, heartwarming production. The cast features Mary Fraser, Janice Gardner, Kim Gordon, Dana Legawiec, Rhonda S. Musak*, Molly Bryant Roberts, and Sally Wood. *Appearing courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association.