The starting point for Forever Seven was the idea of writing a new drama that used Jacques ‘Seven Ages of Man’ speech from As You Like It as its engine. That idea taken on board, the central question of the drama appeared to be - does Shakespeare’s concept of the ‘seven ages’ of life still ring true for us in our modern, and dare I say - post-modern lives? And if so, will it continue to do so in the imagined future?
To complicate matters - and to satisfy our need to test the central concepts of ‘the seven ages’ in the deepest of crucibles - it was decided upon to explore in the drama, what would happen if in the world of Forever Seven, ageing is a choice?
In Forever Seven world you are able to stay young quite literally, forever - as long as you give up your ability and right to have children, and furthermore, that you can afford to have the procedure done.
Forever Seven is a drama of a world set in tension between what appears to be a ‘natural’ order and a new individualised order that we can choose for ourselves. The question of the drama now being - if we dismiss and dispatch ‘the seven ages’ to the evolutionary dustbin - what happens to our society, and what happens to us as humans?
IAN WILDING
Ian Wilding studied drama in London at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
His play Below won the Griffin Theatre Company Award for New Australian Playwriting in 2000 and was produced by the company in that year. In 2003 Ian received the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award for Even Amongst Dogs.
Torrez, developed with the assistance of the Australian National Playwrights Conference, was Ian’s second play to be produced by Griffin Theatre Company and was co-produced by Playbox and Black Swan touring Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and regional WA in 2004. Torrez was short-listed for the New South Wales Premier’s Award in its year of production.
The Carnivores, also developed with the assistance of the ANPC, was short-listed for the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award in 2004 and won the Griffin Theatre Company Award for New Australian Playwriting in 2005. The Carnivores went on to be produced by Black Swan Theatre Company in 2006 and was short-listed for the WA Premier’s Award that year.
October was written with the support of the Melbourne Theatre Company through their Hard Lines program and was produced by Griffin Theatre Company in 2007.
Ian is currently under commission with Sydney Theatre Company, Black Swan and Bell Shakespeare Company.
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