THE YELLOW WALLPAPER
is based on the short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, about a young woman's descent into madness. Diagnosed as "hysterical," following the birth of her child, the popular Victorian "rest cure" was prescribed. She is moved into a nursery with a nailed down bed and bars on the windows. She is infantalized by her husband, who asserts that she is only in need of a rest, and must not think, read write, or even move. As her condition deteriorates, the woman becomes obsessed with the moldering yellow wallpaper in her room. Repeating images abstracted from the story combine to create the sense of visual disruption that characterizes the "madness" of the wallpaper.
The original score by Ingram Marshall uses recorded and live sounds, dancer's voices, fog horns, waves, and a recorded score to create an expressive sound world that mirrors the woman's growing madness. The set by Mark Nayden uses large, tattered wall sections on rollers that move and shift throughout the dance, with video images by videographer Vin Grabill. Costumes by Christine Joly de Lotbinniere.
THE YELLOW WALLPAPER was commissioned by nuArts at Northeastern University. Josa-Jones created a second version of the work for touring with three women performers.
