A one-hour stage adaptation of “The Yellow Wallpaper” brings to audiences a profoundly influential short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman played by Michèle LaRue. This candidate for programming during suffrage celebrations and centennials provides modern audiences with a real feeling for what it was like for many women before the turn of the 20th century. Gilman’s tale continues to chill readers today, dazzling feminists and historians, mystery and horror story enthusiasts alike, with its wit, suspense, and superlative style. This faithful dramatization, directed by Warren Kliewer, is fully staged and performed in period costume. Atmospheric lighting and Victorian music evoke the period and conjure up the ever-changing yellow wallpaper. The production is most effective in a small theatre with a sound system and versatile lighting. Two more-simply staged and less-expensive versions are also available.
The Yellow Wallpaper runs one hour, plus an optional post-performance talk back. The Yellow Wallpaper has been popular with college and university Women’s/Gender Studies programs. It is recommended, as well, for high school students. This extraordinary story and performance can stimulate discussions about imagination vs. science, the place of women in society and marriage, and more. A study guide is also available. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” was published in 1891 in New England Magazine. For more information: Michèle LaRue, 201-863-6436, ruedelarue@aol.com, http://michelelarue.com