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SHERMAN, TEXAS -- Playwright and performer Ann Timmons will present "Off the Wall: The Life and Works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman" Thursday, April 15, at 11 a.m. in Ida Green Theatre at Austin College. The performance isfree and open to the public. For information, call (903) 813-2568. The one-woman theatre piece is, according to the playwright, the story of one woman's struggle to change the world. The play takes place in an evening of private reflection, when Gilman retraces the path she chose for herself, examining her actions, confronting her terrors, and ultimately reaffirming her vision, Timmons explained. Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) was not a conventional 19th century woman, according to Timmons. A great niece of reformers Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher, she also was concerned about the corruptness of society. Timmons has written that Gilman struggled throughout her life with childhood desertion, poverty, and recurring depression that virtually incapacitated her. Still, Timmons said, Gilman was compelled to carry out her reform despite these obstacles, and focused her attention on the plight of women and workers. Timmons has performed in solo theatrical works since 1979. Prior to an Off-Broadway run of "Off the Wall" in 1992, she toured to Lincoln Center and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She also has performed extensively in regional theater, in film, and in television. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wellesley College, Timmons trained at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, and holds a master's degree from the University of Illinois. She conducts a variety of acting, voice, and performance workshops, and coaches individuals and groups on public speaking skills and personal communications workshops. Timmons has written a number of plays for solo and duo performance. Austin College, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), is an independent, liberal arts college of 1,300 students located 60 miles north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Chartered in November 1849, it is the oldest college in Texas under original charter and name as recognized by the State Historical Survey Committee.Austin College is included in Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives, ranked among the "Best 351 Colleges" in the 2004 Princeton Review, and profiled in the 2004 edition of Kaplan's Insiders Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges.
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