{{Short description|Cultural club in Oslo, Norway}} [[File:498 Public Enemies.jpg|thumb|right|Public Enemies performing at Club 7 in 1966.]] '''Club 7''' was a cultural club in Oslo, Norway, active from 1963 to 1985. It was regarded a centre for counterculture in Norway in the 1960s through the 1970s. There was a wide tolerance for alternative lifestyles, including homosexuality.<ref name=Rem>{{cite book|title=Født til frihet. En biografi om Jens Bjørneboe |first=Tore |last=Rem |pages=469–472|year=2010 |publisher=Cappelen Damm |location=Oslo|language=Norwegian|isbn=978-8-20231-005-9}}</ref>
==History== Club 7 was established in 1963 by Attila Horvath and Odd Schou.<ref name=snl>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Club 7 |encyclopedia=Store norske leksikon |editor-last=Godal | editor-first=Anne Marit | editor-link=Anne Marit Godal |publisher=Norsk nettleksikon |location=Oslo |url=http://www.snl.no/Club_7 |language=Norwegian |accessdate=12 March 2012}}</ref> The first meeting took place at Kafé René at Lilletorget, Oslo.<ref name=paxlex>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Club 7 |first=Oddmund |last=Berg |encyclopedia=Pax Leksikon |editor=Dahl |editor2=Elster |editor3=Iversen |editor4=Nørve |editor5=Romøren |editor6=Slagstad |editor7=Vaa |pages=25–26 |publisher=Pax Forlag |location=Oslo |year=1979 |volume=2}}</ref> Among the pioneers was also poet Kate Næss, who is credited for inventing the name of the club.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year=|title=Kate Næss |encyclopedia=Norsk biografisk leksikon|first=Jan Erik |last=Vold |authorlink=Jan Erik Vold |editor=Helle, Knut |editor-link=Knut Helle |publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo |url=http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Kate_Næss/utdypning |language=Norwegian|accessdate=12 March 2012 }}</ref> The name "Club 7" is supposed to mean the club should be "more than sex"<ref name=Rem/> (the number 6 in Norwegian is pronounced like "sex"). The avant-garde theatre Stage 7 ({{langx|no|Scene 7}}) was started in 1966, with Sossen Krohg as artistical director.<ref name=scene7>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Scene 7 |encyclopedia=Store norske leksikon |editor-last=Godal | editor-first=Anne Marit | editor-link=Anne Marit Godal |publisher=Norsk nettleksikon |location=Oslo |url=http://www.snl.no/Scene_7 |language=Norwegian |accessdate=12 March 2012}}</ref><ref name=sossen>{{cite encyclopedia|year=|title=Sossen Krohg |encyclopedia=Norsk biografisk leksikon|first=Svend Erik Løken |last=Larsen |editor=Helle, Knut |editor-link=Knut Helle |publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo |url=http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Sossen_Krohg/utdypning |language=Norwegian|accessdate=12 March 2012 }}</ref> Other club activities were jazz concerts, poetry evenings, rock concerts, exhibitions, café and activities for children.<ref name=snl/> The club had various locations over years, including Drammensveien 64, the Edderkoppen Theatre, the restaurant Kongen near Frognerkilen, and the Oslo Concert Hall.<ref name=paxlex/> In the 1970s the club was located in Vika, in block D of Oslo Concert Hall,<ref name=paxlex/> where it covered an area of 1,400 square meters, and had an average number of 300 visitors per evening.<ref name=Rem/> The club had its own library, gallery and newspaper. It hosted blues concerts, folk concerts and jazz concerts, movie shows and dance evenings.<ref name=paxlex/> The theatre staged experimental plays by playwrights such as Ionesco, Fo and Cocteau.<ref name=sossen/> Among the theatre's greatest successes was a dance performance based on Gerd Brantenberg's novel ''Egalias døtre''.<ref name=scene7/> Jens Bjørneboe's play ''Tilfellet Torgersen'' ({{lang|en|The Torgersen Case}}) premiered at Stage 7 on 25 January 1973.<ref>Rem (2010): pp. 425–429</ref> The theatre also showed a series of children's plays written by Sossen Krohg, starting with ''Skinka Nøff og Grynta som ikke ville bli julebord'' in 1975.<ref name=sossen/>
The club closed in 1985 after bankruptcy.<ref name=snl/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Club 7}} Category:1963 establishments in Norway Category:Organizations established in 1963 Category:Organizations disestablished in 1985 Category:History of Oslo Category:Culture in Oslo