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