If you’re a Stephen King fan or enjoy psychological thrillers, you’re going to love LeGacy Presents’ current production of “Misery,” based on King’s best-selling novel of the same name. The play is suspenseful, a tale of obsession and survival, laced with a wicked streak of dark humor.
The book “Misery,” published in 1987, quickly became a cultural standard, inspiring a chilling 1990 film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Kathy Bates and James Caan. A script written by William Goldman, who also penned the movie screenplay, adapted the story for the theater, with the premiere at Bucks County Playhouse in 2012 before moving to Broadway for a short run in 2015.
The play follows Paul, an acclaimed author of Victorian era romance novels, who has just finished writing his final novel in the series. But after badly crashing his car in a snowstorm, he wakes up to find he has been ‘rescued’ and taken to her remote cabin by a woman named Annie who claims to be the “number one fan” of his novels. His legs are broken and his shoulder displaced, so he must depend upon her for pain relief and sustenance. But as the play progresses, it becomes obvious that she has progressed from fan to psychopath, and the two overtly and covertly tangle over control, manipulation, obsession and survival. Although the play focuses on the terror of the situation, it also uses clever humor, ensuring that the tension is interspersed with moments of unsettling laughter.
The novel “Misery” has been attributed to King’s distress at feeling pigeonholed as a horror fiction writer, with that angst producing this study of the perverse dynamic between a writer and his self-proclaimed super fan. King also said that he had a drug and alcohol problem and that, when writing the book, Annie represented his addiction and his “number one fan.” King is known for his horror novels, but “Misery” explores something even more frightening: the unnerving terror that humans inflict on each other.
Annie, as played by Sue LeGate-Halford, is creepy, with nuanced facial expressions and shoulder shrugs, exposing both the character’s cunning and sinister fury. LeGate-Halford well-exhibits the bumpkin qualities the role requires, but it feels fully believable when she suddenly transitions into her darkest proclivities.
John Ficarra as Paul is initially grateful to Annie for saving him from the wrecked auto but slowly realizes that he is in a nightmare created by an unhinged fanatic. Paul’s slow realization of his dilemma and evolving schemes to survive are clearly conveyed by Ficarra’s incisive portrayal. The tension between the two is like a joust, and the resulting damage is just as brutal.
There is one other actor, Catz Forsman, who provides yeoman’s service to the small but important role of Buster, the Sheriff, interacting with Annie while tasked with finding the missing author.
Director John Bivens, through his choices, has created the necessary unnerving atmosphere and claustrophobic ambiance for the story to move forward to its disturbing resolution. The good-looking set, designed by Nancy Haffey, Les Solomon and John Bivens, contributes to the claustrophobia, taking place mostly in a bedroom, with only a move of one wall to indicate a kitchen. Lighting design by Les Solomon illustrates the passage of time as well as casting shadows to build the menacing mood. Paulette Gilbert’s costumes, especially Annie’s, help set the proper character. And Danny McCammon’s sound design and use of music is eerie, funny or non sequitur, as needed.
If I have a criticism, it was with the audience. For some reason, attendees felt it necessary to applaud or hoot every time the lights dimmed, which was done often to indicate passage of days and nights. That sound, not germane to the play, disturbed my focus and disrupted the sinister mood. Better to hold applause until the end of an act, not give it for every scene or lighting change.
If you enjoyed reading “Misery” the book or watching “Misery” the movie, you will want to see LeGacy Presents’ show. There are definitely wackos among us, and this production does a fine job of illustrating how weird things can get when forced to interact with one. So be very careful if anyone ever says to you that they are “your number one fan!” “Misery” continues at the Nevada Theatre through April 4.
Hindi Greenberg will be very watchful of Sue LeGate-Halford in the future; she was too natural in that creepy role.
Know & go
WHAT: Adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘Misery’
WHO: LeGacy Presents
DATES: Through April 4
COST: $25 advanced | $35 special reserved seating
TICKETS: Available at http://www.legacypresents.com or by calling (530) 268 5419
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.theunion.com ’
