What’s in a Name?

Why Seventh Sister? Since we were founded in 1989, we have been asked, “Why are you named that?” “What does it mean?”

The name is derived from the seventh star in the constellation Pleiades. As myth has it, seven beautiful sisters were relentlessly pursued by Orion, until Zeus, taking pity on them, turned them into doves so they could fly away. Later he changed them into stars and placed them in the heavens at the center of the universe. When Troy fell to the Greeks, six of the sister stars dimmed their light in grief that a great culture had disappeared from the world. The seventh sister, however, turned her gaze in another direction in search of an alternative vision.

Those of us who came together nearly twenty years ago wanted our name to reflect our desire to examine timeless situations with fresh vision. There really are only a few basic stories in the human experience, and whether they are told in a classic or an avant garde manner, they involve struggles that test us and leave us defeated or triumphant. The plays we choose to present are our shared stories, and in telling them we are inspired by that seventh sister who, when faced with adversity, chose to turn her gaze to the heavens in search of answers. This is our journey!