Misery: An Absolute Delight at Spotlight Theatre!
by Stephen T. Kreal
On Sunday, November 17th, I saw the closing performance of “Misery”, produced by Spotlight Theater, performed at their new performance space at The Twentieth Century Club in Lansdowne, PA. The new space is quite nice and the acoustics are good. I had never been to a production by this theater company before, but they are now on my radar!
The play is based on the 1987 novel of the same name by famed author Stephen King. The stage play script is written by William Goldman, who also wrote the screenplay for the 1992 movie adaptation, and follows the narrative of the novel, albeit with less detail. The performance was directed by Jess Stinson and assistant-directed by Chas Thomas (who also was in the cast, in the supporting role of “Buster”, a local police officer) and Stage Managed by Lane Norris. The scene transitions were mostly quick and efficient, with Liberace piano music playing during blackout, in a clever nod to the source material (sound design by Joe Ward).
The stage was dressed as a unit set, a bedroom in the isolated house of Nurse Annie Wilkes. Set designer Dan Stinson opted for a simple bedroom with neutral wall colors. The Set was decorated by Sue Alba, with a simple country-style motif, with some nice touches (dolls and quilts). The décor was country style, and not overly elaborate. Some of the action took place on the floor in front of the stage. There was an open doorway on the side of the stage which was essentially not part of the set. There were numerous times when offstage actors or (I assume) the Stage Manager were clearly visible, which took away from the “illusion of theater”. Perhaps a bookshelf or a poster of a window could have obscured the doorway, but overall the set pulled us all into the world of the play.
The story revolves around writer Paul Sheldon, a successful romance novelist who crashes his car in a snowstorm. By coincidence, he is “rescued” by his self-professed “number-one fan”, Nurse Annie Wilkes. Annie splints his severe leg wounds and administers care and pain medicine. Things begin to go awry as Paul starts to realize that Annie is emotionally unstable. Annie reads Paul’s manuscript of his latest novel, and Annie becomes enraged when she learns that her beloved character has been killed off. She then compels him to write the next book, insisting that he somehow resurrect her beloved character.
Paul Sheldon, played by Ken Opdenaker, spends nearly the whole play in bed or in a wheelchair. Opdenaker’s performance was impressive as his character has to maintain emotional control, and try to figure out a means to survive and escape the situation, as he realizes just how unstable and dangerous Annie is. I was particularly impressed with his ability to project physical pain. Whether writhing on the floor in agony, or having his legs hobbled by a sledge mallet, the audience KNEW that Paul Sheldon was in agony. Mr. Opdenaker was costumed for most of the play in pajama bottoms and an undershirt (and cleverly constructed homemade leg braces).
Chas Thomas (assistant director) also played the role of Buster, a local police officer in two walk-on scenes. Thomas portrayed the congenial, veteran police officer with a small-town warmth and charm. He spoke with a gruff accent and was costumed exactly how one would imagine a rural Colorado police officer.
Annie Wilkes, played by Susan Bolt, was a master class in stage acting. The emotional range of the character is vast. From giddy schoolgirl (in a scene where the two are having a “romantic” dinner), to near-homicidal rage in the “hobbling” scene, to feigned ignorance when questioned by the local police officer (played by Chas Thomas, who also assistant directed). Bolt’s performance captured every nuance, every inflection. She deftly changed moods as easily as costumes. Her facial expressions and body language emphasized her dialogue beautifully. Her costumes suggested an old-fashioned “frumpishness”, consistent with the character from the novel and the movie. The brilliance of Bolt’s performance cannot be overstated.
The lighting design (also designed by Joe Ward) was simple, and used very well-timed blackouts at key moments in the action. Some of the action of the play took place in front of the stage on the floor. I assume this was to establish the scene happened outside of the room. At these moments, some of the actors’ faces were in darkness (most notably the police officer), or otherwise poorly lit, making it difficult to see their facial expressions. Related to that, at one point, Paul discovers an important object in the drawer of a small table which unfortunately was not held up high enough for the audience to really see what it was. It was only later that I realized what had been discovered in the drawer.
These minor difficulties in no way diminished the overall quality of the production. The direction and stage acting of the cast were excellent, the action was intense and the drama built up very nicely to a powerful conclusion. Therefore, I would like to congratulate the cast and production team on a fine piece of theater. Unfortunately, the performance I saw was the closing performance of the run, but I highly recommend checking Spotlight Theatre out for future productions. You can learn more about upcoming events here: https://spotlighttheatrepa.org/
