The Yellow Wallpaper is a seminal text in feminist literature, a short story from 1892 about a woman suffering from what we'd now call post-natal depression. Only this being the late 19th century, her husband and doctor (never a good sign when they're one and the same) is treating this "slight hysterical tendency" by locking his wife away until she recovers.
Some hope. Instead of fading into the wallpaper like a good girl, she becomes obsessed with its colour and patterns - to the point of psychosis. It's a haunting, claustrophobic tale, rich with imagery and of obvious appeal to a young actress. Lesley Free certainly picks out the strange poetry in Olivia Mace's adaptation of the original but is less attuned to its emotional nuances. For a woman on the edge of mental cacophony, this is too much of a one-note performance.
The production design is beautiful - set, sound and lighting included - with a moving opening section in which old Victorian photographs are projected onto a bedsheet. "There is a story to tell ... if only we can find it," read the slides. This is that story; the show's just not quite here yet.
- Nancy Groves
