When a fellow mother at her son’s school arrived with a bruised face, Marina Pisklakova-Parker didn’t stay quiet. It was 1993 in Russia, and domestic violence was common, but there wasn’t even a word in the vernacular to describe it. In the face of threats from abusers and law enforcement that was hesitant to act, she took on a fight no one else would.
Pisklakova-Parker founded Russia’s first domestic violence hotline.
“Pretty soon, she found herself working in a closet with a telephone,” playwright Paula Cizmar said. “She was the one person willing to pick up the phone and listen.”
Pisklakova-Parker’s story is just one of the moving narratives featured in “Seven” — a play written by seven women playwrights, each telling the story of one inspiring woman. Since its premiere in 2008, the work has been translated into 27 languages and performed in over 30 countries.
The documentary-style play was conceived by playwright Carol K. Mack, who collaborated on the script with playwrights Cizmar, Anna Deavere Smith, Catherine Filloux, Gail Kriegel, Ruth Margraff and Susan Yankowitz.
“Seven” will make a pit stop at the O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University on March 16. The play is being presented as part of the O’Shaughnessy’s “Women of Substance” series, an initiative to amplify women’s voices through art.
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