|
It was taken simply as a matter of medical fact by the doctors and psychiatrists of the 19th century that members of the "fair sex" were more emotional and thus more prone to suffer from psychological disorders then men. So it was with no malicious intent that Dr. John Gilman diagnosed his wife, Charlotte, as suffering from "hysteria" after the birth of their child, and prescribed a "rest cure" of confinement -- with no reading, writing or social interaction with anyone who might agitate her. No shrinking violets put
on ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’By John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.comIsolated in a bedroom, Charlotte sank into depression. Eventually she began to "see" three women whose forms appeared in the repetitive design of the yellow wallpaper that surrounded her.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's struggle to preserve her sanity is the subject of "The Yellow Wallpaper," a play adapted from a story by Jeremy Pippen and Daniel Akiyama, directed by Cassandra Wormser and choreographed by Helen Lee, at the University of Hawaii-Manoa Ernst Lab Theatre this weekend.
Lee, who teamed up with Moses William Goods III for a Po'okela-worthy performance as Mephistopheles in Dennis Carroll's production of "Faust I"/"Faust II" last year, and whose self-choreographed solo number, "Elemental Traps," was one of the brightest and clearest pieces at the "Spring Footholds" student dance showcase earlier this month, says that her work with Wormser is an example of how dance can be incorporated with traditional theater.
Lee is creating and choreographing the movements of Kathy Bishop, Traci Chun and Jackie Ni'i as the ghostly women who appear in the wallpaper and take on lives of their own.
"It's a slow progression," Lee said of the movements she is using to represent the women's forms as they gradually appear, then emerge from the wallpaper pattern as Charlotte's sense of reality changes.
"Each one of them has a little bit of a different character," she said. "I think it's important to have movement (in stages) as the women begin to come out of the wall, because it would be pretty bland and boring if they just stepped out of the wall and said, 'OK, now I'm here.'"
Where: Ernst Lab Theatre, UH-Manoa Campus 'The Yellow Wallpaper'
When: 10:30 p.m. Saturday, and May 3 and 4; and 8 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $7 general; $6 for students, seniors, military, and UH faculty and staff; $3 for UH students with Spring 2002 ID
Call: 956-7655
Lee says that the dancers whisper behind the walls but don't speak directly to actress Kathy Hunter, who stars as Charlotte (Tom Wiler completes the cast as the well-meaning Dr. Gilman). Still, it's another step toward her dream of integrating dance and conventional theater.
"There's a feeling that actors don't dance and dancers don't speak, and a lot of dancers are afraid to speak, but there are opportunities like this to put the two together. We interpret (the women) as reflections of (Charlotte), and there's a moment of acceptance when she realizes that it's herself. She takes a moment and looks at each one of them, each one of them a little bit of a different character. It's the first time that she actually looks at them in the eye."
In preparation for the performance, Lee took the dancers out of the theater to visit Glen Grant's Moiliili store, explore a campus bamboo grove and compare the tactile experience of touching items such as feathers, water, a wooden board while wearing shoes and then barefoot.
"The woman was in a room with no stimuli -- these (tactile) things were what she wasn't getting."
Her next project is a play titled "Penacide" that explores the rise in suicide among teens and young adults. She hopes to present it later this year in the Ernst Lab Theatre.
It'll be Lee's first time directing a show, but considering how much she's accomplished since arriving at UH three years ago with no theater experience and no formal dance training, it seems she's capable of meeting her goals.
After all, we've come a long way from the days when members of the "fair sex" were expected to accept the limits placed on them by others and retire meekly to their rooms.
Click for online
calendars and events.
