Month: September 2023

Do you have an appetite for deep, deep shudders? Are you in the mood for a demented story, that messes with your head, that steals your sense of security like candy from a toddler? Are you always up for twisted, creepy show, that’s ready to pounce and swallow you whole? Then look no further than Richardson Theatre Centre’s current staging of Misery.

Annie Wilkes has had a bit of luck. Paul Sheldon, famous author of the Misery Chastain Series, crashed while driving in a blizzard. Sheldon is the object of Annie’s adulation. She puts the “fan” in fanatic. When she finds Sheldon’s car, she digs him out and manages to get him to her farm. They are somewhat far off the grid, but no worries, Annie is a nurse, with extraordinary strength (it seems). Sheldon wakes with numerous, painful scrapes and contusions. It takes awhile for him to process Annie’s explanation, and settle in, more or less.

Annie convinces Paul, to share his most recent book. When she discovers the roman a clef’ is filled with obscene colloquialisms, she’s enraged.  Next when she buys a copy of Sheldon’s latest in the Misery Chastain Saga (Misery’s Fate) she loses it. It’s curious how she maintains a veneer of propriety and dignity, even when her behavior is pathological. She holds Paul Sheldon hostage (without either one of them actually using those words) until he rewrites his current abomination. He ingratiates himself, and forms a congenial bond with Annie. This is the smart move. It might be equal parts Stockholm Syndrome and practical strategy. There’s also the subtle suggestion that some accidental connection between Sheldon’s darker side and Annie’s is in play.

Adapted for the stage by renowned playwright William Goldman, and based on the successful novel by Stephen King, Misery is intriguing and ingenious. Also, it doesn’t feel like the film, the vibe different somehow. The story takes place entirely in Annie’s home, we never move beyond her farm. The claustrophobia closes in and the truly sinister details emerge gradually. What would someone, isolated and disgusted with the world do, if they had unlimited access to someone heroic in their eyes? Someone who convinces her the world can be lovely and conscientious? When she’s exposed to the artifice behind Sheldon’s creation?

Richardson Theate Centre’s staging of Misery is spot on. Pitch perfect. Rachael Lindley’s performance of Annie Wilkes is alarming, chilling, funny (you dirty birdie!) and utterly believable. I cannot imagine a better interpretation. Christopher Dean as Paul Sheldon transmits a celebrity who is grounded and not intoxicated by adoring fans. He evokes our sympathy and you better believe, when he tries to slip Annie a mickey, I was on rooting for him. [There is genuine pathos in this scene, when Annie seems utterly transported, like Amanda Wingfield’s soliloquies.] Kenneth Fulenwider, depicts the Sheriff, alert, deferential, skeptical, equipped with the tools a lawman needs. Fulenwider has been convincing and versatile in every show I’ve seen, equally adept in starring and supporting roles.

Once again, Director Janette Oswald has taken on what must be a mind-blowing, difficult, exhausting project, that smacks the audience, and in this case, holds us hostage, too. Over and over, she jumps into scripts that a lesser artisan would find intimidating. She brings intensity, dedication, depth and precision to the dramas she orchestrates.

Richardson Theatre Centre presents Misery, playing September 1-17th, 2023. 518 West Arapaho Road, Suite 113, Richardson, TX 75080 972-699-1130 richardsontheatrecentre.net

As much as anything, Let the Right One In is a fable about intolerance, prejudice and heroism. Based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindvist and adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne, it explores what it means to respect the humanity in each of us, even if someone seems inexplicably different. Mysterious and strange.

Oskar is a student in high school. He’s bullied and humiliated by his peers. Jonny (the leader of the pack) is pathological, going to extremes to make Oskar’s life miserable. His alcoholic mother is supportive until he’s called on the carpet. Then she, too, attacks him. His dad seems friendly enough, but his self-absorption makes him clueless. His coach is encouraging, but he too, fails Oskar. Turning a blind eye, or too stupid to notice Oskar’s abuse by toxic alphas. Oskar is, in a word: trapped.

Eli is a girl who lives in the forest. Realm of enchantment, danger, and the forbidden. It seems there is perpetual snow, and cold so merciless, it’s uninhabitable. She is exotically beautiful (the same age as Oskar) subdued and tentative. As they come to know each other, it’s clear she’s withholding something. But Oskar doesn’t assume there’s something nefarious going on. Their courtship almost feels like a game, but it doesn’t have a predatory vibe. Oskar, even when he feels confounded, respects Eli’s privacy. Gradually, they fall in love. Both of them fringe-dwellers, both of them outsiders.

Lindvist has concocted a story in which worlds collide, and petty assumptions skewered.  The gang of thugs who torture Oskar, do so because he has no protection. Because underneath weak people are too often held in contempt, even if we can’t admit that to ourselves. Let the Right One In tips everything over. Bullies build self-esteem by degrading Oskar, the people in his life (who should be his advocates) are insipid and feckless. The only one truly in his corner, is Eli, a vampire in a story that never uses the word. She is tacit and yet, in her way, forthcoming. She is caring and brave and sweet-natured. Everything a villain couldn’t be.

The actors in Let the Right One In  bring strong authenticity and focus to their performance. A dazzling aspect of Outcry’s productions is the use of choreography. We might only expect this in a musical, but Outcry has it down. The dance pieces are imaginative and intriguing, expanding and enriching the content. The set design feels playful, yet dangerous. The pervasive mist sets the mood beautifully, and who doesn’t love the tingles of a foreboding, enticing forest?

Outcry Theatre presented: Let the Right One In. It played August 4th-13th, 2023. Addison Theatre Centre. Studio Theatre. www.outcrytheatre.com. 972-836-7206