Just in time for the spooky season comes “Misery,” a psychological thriller of a stage play based on best-selling horror author Stephen King’s story.
Staged by local community theater nonprofit Fourth Wall Entertainment Troupe, the live theatre adaptation, co-directed by Executive Artistic Director Cyndie Klorer and one of the leads, Mike Evans, is by screenwriter and author William Goldman, who also wrote the script for the more supernatural-leaning movie version. Goldman, who was 87 when he passed, was also well-known for his screenplay adaptation of “All the President’s Men,” penning the original screenplay for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” and for writing the thriller novel “Marathon Man” and fairytale/fantasy “The Princess Bride.”
A departure from his supernatural/fantasy stories, King’s 1987 “Misery: A Novel,” cast a self-absorbed best-selling writer-protagonist into a seeming spiderweb of an obsessed fan-antagonist. King had described the novel as inspired by his own confining struggles with addictions and the pressures of fame that made him feel confined by his fans.
The story revolves around romance series novelist Paul Sheldon and super-fan Annie Wilkes, a former nurse and near-recluse. Paul, weary of being known for the exploits of Misery Chastain, his main heroine, who turns out to be Annie’s favorite character of all time, recently completed and sent to press what he thought would be Misery’s swansong installment with plans to depart into a whole new direction. The book, scheduled to be released within a few days, literally ends with Misery’s death and burial.
After checking out of a nearby ritzy inn with the only copy of his latest manuscript in his briefcase, Paul ascends into the Rocky Mountains on a charted route to meet with his agent, unaware of rapidly developing white-out blizzard conditions, which cause him to crash his sportscar into a snowdrift. He wakes up in Annie’s mountain cabin, hooked to an IV drip with a dislocated shoulder and two broken legs she expertly set while he was unconscious.
What starts as a seemingly innocent idolization by an awkward groupie-like follower turns into a series of creepily disturbing, escalating, and ultimately deadly interactions between the two characters, while through various tortuous activities, she bends him to her will as he desperately schemes a getaway plan. Periodically, Sheriff Buster makes a couple of visits to the cabin while investigating the possible demise or whereabouts of the missing celebrity-author, before and after his vehicle is discovered near Annie’s mountain retreat.
Cast in the roles of Paul and Annie is a real-life couple, Mike and Susan Evans. Both tremendously capable actors as well as longtime friends of Klorer, the pair are intriguing and entertaining to watch. Pandora Mutterties, a Fourth Wall regular on stage who also serves as its creative director, is engaging and believable as Sheriff Buster. While the story is creepy for sure, this treatment is not scare-your-pants-off terrorizing, which is more than A-OK for this reporter!
“Misery” runs through November 9 at the Metropolitan, 59 Main Street, San Andreas, with performances Friday and Saturday evenings beginning at 7 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. The troupe offers a variety of concession snacks and beverages, including those of the adult kind for which the proceeds benefit the nonprofit.
Next up will be a Klorer-created Harry Potter-inspired theatre experience dubbed “The Predicament of Peril,” and a New Year’s Eve speakeasy-style bash. For more information and tickets, visit 4thwalltroupe.com.