Collectives don’t always exist harmoniously, let alone for 20 years. 7-ON A Collection, out through Currency Press, celebrates the 20th anniversary of playwrights’ collective 7-ON with seven newly published plays.
7-ON playwrights: quick links
Who are the 7-ON collective?
The seven members of 7-ON – Donna Abela, Vanessa Bates, Hilary Bell, Noëlle Janaczewska, Verity Laughton, Ned Manning and Catherine Zimdahl – have had over 200 plays produced in Australia and around the world between them, since the collective was established in 2005. Collectively, they have also accumulated more than 40 writing awards over that time.
7-ON A Collection features ‘plays that are special to us, that have not been published [previously] or they’re brand new,’ explains 7-ON collective member, playwright Catherine Zimdahl, though her colleague, playwright Ned Manning, quickly adds that a number of the plays in the collection have previously been produced.
Indeed, throughout this interview, the pair regularly finish one another’s comments, check in with the other regarding the accuracy of their answers, and generally display the comfortable familiarity of an enduring 20-year friendship.
The publication of 7-ON A Collection – which was launched at the Currency Press Festival of Playwrights on Saturday 23 August – is intended to celebrate the enduring nature of the collective as a whole, Manning tells ArtsHub.
‘We felt that 20 years is a long time to stay together in any relationship, let alone seven playwrights. And we wanted to celebrate it,’ he says.
‘Over the last few weeks I’ve realised – I’ve always known how important [the collective] is to us – but I’ve realised how extraordinary it is that we have done this for such a long period of time, and with all our different interests. I think it’s worth stressing. We’re all very different writers with similar but often very different interests, but definitely different writing styles. We write in different forms as well, but that hasn’t hindered us. It’s been a positive,’ Manning explains.
Mutual support is key to 20 years of successful collective action
The 7-ON collective was originally established ‘very informally,’ says Zimdahl. ‘We just wanted to kind of chat about it just so lonely being a writer in this business, and then we wanted to formalise it.’
Initially, ‘we really didn’t know each other very well at all, and if you told me then that we would be together 20 years later, I would have just not blamed you, of course. But it’s a group that’s worked successfully on a number of different levels,’ she continues.
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Over its two decades to date, 7-ON has had what Zimdahl calls the group’s ‘political side’: helping advocate for greater representation of women in the theatre sector, for instance. The collective has also operated at a more personal level by supporting its members through professional challenges.
‘It’s a closed space where we can talk about what’s going on in our work or in the business, very quietly. If we’ve been treated thoughtlessly, you know, we can check in with another person in the group, even just to ask, “Is this okay? How would you manage this without a disaster happening?”,’ she explains.
Manning adds: ‘Very early on, we said we’re not getting together to whinge about why our plays aren’t getting done. In fact, we’re not going to be doing that at all. It was really important to make this [group] positive, that we positively supported one another and helped each other get back to the laptop when we were feeling like we’d lost momentum.
‘The really crucial thing is that for 20 years we’ve always supported each other,’ Manning says.
Such support includes dramaturgical feedback when one of the collective is stuck on a particular aspect of a new play, but also personal support when life throws a curveball at one of the collective.
As Zimdahl puts it: ‘We’ve gone through a lot of life changes through [these 20 years], and it is astonishing that we’ve all been there for each other. It’s a friendship. I mean, it [playwriting] is a very strange business, as you know. It’s so weird. It’s not like we’re working in our office where you know how to get ahead and all of those sorts of things. [Playwriting] just doesn’t work like that, as far as I can see. And there are times when you’re lost in it, and the friendship is sustaining. We keep each other going, for sure, yeah, 100%.’
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Manning’s new play Tsunami, published for the first time in 7-ON A Collection is ‘very much a case he point,’ he says.
‘After the first round of rejections with Tsunami, I probably would have given up but I was encouraged by 7-ON. Our members read it and said, “It’s great, keep on going.” And that gives you strength, as much as anything else. I think I probably would have stopped writing plays a long time ago if 7-ON didn’t exist. It’s been an absolute lifeline for me,’ he reveals.
In tough times, theatre matters more than ever
Both Manning and Zimdahl agree that playwriting has got harder over the last 20 years.
‘The middle tier has disappeared, pretty much,’ Zimdahl says. ‘And then there’s the majors, and that’s very hard to get into, but there is a vibrant scene out there, the alternative [independent] scene, which is fantastic. It just doesn’t pay.’
Manning notes: ‘The opportunities for playwrights have narrowed remarkably, in even the last five or 10 years. But we keep plugging away, you know, you just never know.’
To which Zimdahl adds: ‘And theatre … brings people together in a time in which things are so polarised and atomised. It’s such a wonderful experience – when it’s good,’ she laughs. ‘And it’s great – that work is out there.’
7-On A Collection is out now through Currency Press and retails for $39.99.
