The Yellow Wallpaper is an adaptation of the short story by the same name. It depicts a woman in the late 1800s whose husband has removed her to the country for her to recover her health. Despite her protests she is encouraged to take exercise and rest and not to stimulate her mental faculties in the slightest. Confined to a room with wallpaper she detests, the woman slowly descends into a world of her own creation, defined by the wallpaper. The original story is written as a diary, so it seems fitting that the performance is told directly to the audience. Though it is never certain whether this is an abstract form of narration or a symbol of her mental instability, it nonetheless creates a level of intimacy between the heroine and the audience as she relates her everyday struggles.The development of the characters is subtle and delicate. The woman conveys her complex feelings towards her husband, both of love and of oppression. Through the powerful performance the audience experiences the fear she feels at the lack of control within her life. What is commendable is the presence this one-woman show brings to the stage. Though the space is small, and largely taken up by a bed, the blocking is dynamic and helps keep the energy up throughout.The show starts with a movie projection, perhaps to set the tone of the performance, but it was stopped prematurely. This left the audience slightly confused and added nothing to the performance. The music used to convey the passage of time became slightly irritating and, as the play progressed, too literal. However, the staging of the wallpaper is simple and effective, creating a physical presence but allowing the possibility that it is a mental creation.The play examines the meaning of a woman’s life - how she struggles with the duties of a wife and mother, is unable to fulfill either. Though it perhaps fails to capture the true horror of the original, it is an impressive piece of theatre.
