spell#7 was founded in 1997 by husband-and-wife team, Paul Rae and Kaylene Tan. The couple met at the University of Bristol in England when they were studying drama. For the first two years of spell#7, Rae and Tan managed all aspects of their performances themselves, from writing and acting, to design and marketing. They even rehearsed in their own living room.
In 1999, they became the first group to be taken on by TheatreWorks as part of its resident-artist scheme. They were given administrative support and, more importantly, access to the old Black Box Theatre at Fort Canning Centre to create work in.