CARBONDALE -- The Varsity will present the premier of a new production of "The Yellow Wallpaper." The one-woman play features local actor and educator, Elyse Pineau. Kevin Purcell is directing.
This production was adapted from a short story written in 1892 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, based partly on her own experience. It tells the story of a Victorian woman with a "nervous disorder," whose physician-husband orders bed rest and isolation, refusing to let her read, write or care for their young child. Trapped in her bedroom with nothing to do, she slowly, methodically, becomes increasingly unstable.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a landmark feminist story that helped change the way women were diagnosed and treated for "nervous frailty," including postpartum depression.
Pineau is a retired faculty member in SIUC's Department of Communication Studies. She recently directed "The Crucible" and appeared in Purcell's production of "Agnes of God," both for The Stage Company. In May, she performed her original one-woman show, "Nursing Mother," at SIU's Marion Kleinau Theatre.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" will be performed at 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 26-28, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29.
Tickets are $10 or $7 for students with ID and are available in advance at www.thevarsitycenter.eventbrite.com. Advance tickets are not available at the venue but will be available on show dates when doors open 30 minutes before performance times. The Varsity Bar also will be open at that time.
The Varsity is downtown Carbondale at 418 S. Illinois Ave. To keep with up all Varsity events, go to www.facebook.com/varsitycenter.
