‘Immersive experience:’ ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’

Called an “immersive experience” by director Aaron M. Wood, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a dance adaptation of a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. “The Yellow Wallpaper” will run Feb. 20-23 and 27-29 in the Thomas H. Empey Studio Theatre.

The story, adapted and choreographed by Wood, “ … is an emotionally charged and darkly humorous examination of an isolated woman’s state of reality,” said Wood. Published in 1892, Gilman’s semi-autobiographical short story details a young woman’s experience with the then popular method of treating women suffering from postpartum depression and nervousness called a “rest cure.” “The rest cure is often considered worse than the actual diagnosis itself,” Wood noted.

According to Wood, “The Yellow Wallpaper” will be brought alive onstage by a talented cast through movement and the intertwining of dance, theater, and multimedia elements. The production is recommended for ages 10 and up and begins each night at 7:30 p.m. with two matinees, Feb. 23 and 29 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students 5-18 and are available online, at the box office between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, by phone at 307-268-2500, or one hour before each performance, for that performance only.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is part of the 35th Annual Casper College Humanities Festival and Demorest Lecture, Feb. 18-22. The festival will feature a “Book Club Discussion” on Gilman’s original work Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 5 p.m. in the Empey Theatre. Moderated by Georgia Wheatley, gender studies program director at Casper College, the discussion will also feature cast members of the production as well as Wood. The event is free and open to the public and books are available at the Natrona County Library second floor desk on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Thomas H. Empey Studio Theatre is located in the Gertrude Krampert Theatre building on the Casper College campus.