Review – Misery: community theatre at its best

By Lilian Harrington

Misery

By William Goldman

Directed by Danny Cruise

Sandgate Theatre

Sandgate Town Hall

Seymour St. Sandgate.

Season: June 9 - 18 (Fridays, Saturdays Sundays)

Bookings: trybooking.com/CHKHO or phone 0493175553

Sandgate Theatre Company stepped up their efforts under the artistic leadership of Danny Cruise in a café style theatre night with its latest production which was a challenging presentation of the award winning script Misery performed with credible flair and style.

Misery is a physiological thriller, written by the popular crime writer, American novelist, Stephen King which became an award winning film. The lead actress was Kathie Bates, who earned an Oscar for herself with her memorable role as Annie Wilkes; Misery was adapted for stage and screen by William Goldman, from King’s original novel.

The play was written with some adaptations that were necessary for theatre viewers, but it remains a classic thriller today with all the elements and suspense that audiences love.

The narrative is based on the relationship between the two main characters, a celebrity romance novelist, Paul Sheldon, and a deranged nurse, Annie Wilkes, a self-proclaimed number one Misery fan.

She rescues Sheldon after he is seriously injured following a bad car accident in her local area. She takes him to her isolated home to care for him, but she doesn’t inform anyone of the crash, so his disappearance gradually causes some concern. She is in awe of the writer and loves his work.

Paul receives treatment and doses of pain medication from her. Finally, Paul realizes that he is trapped there and is being held a prisoner, so in order to appease Annie, he is forced to indulge in his captor’s whims, which in turn takes a toll on him and he tries to find ways to escape which has deadly consequences.

The play was well staged and directed by Danny Cruise with an experienced cast, led by the talented Gary Farmer -Trickett, as the bedridden Paul Sheldon, and the competent Ashely Arthur, (in her first time lead role), as the deranged and ruthless Annie Wilkes; they were supported by the delightfully quirky, John Sayles, as Sheriff Buster (or Buster), the local law enforcement officer. The cast showed a good energy, vocal technique, pace and fluency and this held audience “captive” throughout.

The simplistic and multi-level staging, was minimalist, but it was very effective because it was enhanced by good special lighting and sound effects; the technical back -up was designed by the technical team, with three different projectors, which gave the production more atmosphere and depth.

Technician, Clarissa Womack, and the team used sound and video components in the town hall very successfully, and her team produced these multi-media level effects which really created a different dimension and held everyone’s interest, e.g. especially the video tour through Annie Wilke’s house when Sheldon tried to find ways to escape from his room, plus the use of a video to show the stormy weather effects through the open window. However, an oversight in set construction occurred because both the placement of the writing desk, and the way the framed bed were angled on stage obscured the audience’s view from seeing the patient’s reactions in his bed easily, and detracted from any up-stage action. This meant it also reduced the effect of some of the special effects and actions. A different bed angle or an extra mattress used), may have overcome this problem, so viewers would get an unobstructed view.

Misery plays for a limited season at Sandgate Theatre, (close to the Sandgate Train Station); It’s community theatre at its best, and it will keep you guessing all the way through!