King’s ‘Misery’ comes to the stage with Cresson Lake Playhouse
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The finale of the 2023 season at Cresson Lake Playhouse is Stephen King's "Misery," a suspenseful thriller at the Barn Theatre in Loretto with shows presented at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10-14 and at 2 p.m. Oct. 15.
The psychological drama stars Scott Getz of Revloc as Paul Sheldon, a romance novelist, who is rescued after a car crash by his "number one fan" Annie Wilkes, portrayed by Wendy Stewart of Winder.
Paul wakes up in Annie's secluded home and she cares for him. She reads his latest book and becomes enraged when she discovers the author has killed off her favorite character, Misery Chastain. Annie forces Paul to write a new novel, and he quickly realizes Annie has no intention of letting him go anywhere. The irate Annie has Paul writing as if his life depends on it -- and it does.
Based on the 1987 horror/thriller novel, attendees are advised it has adult themes, weapons and adult language, a news release from the theater stated. The play is co-directed by Stewart and Paul Seymour, who also appears on stage as Sheriff Buster.
Getz, who played Frollo in last season's "Hunchback of Notre Dame," said he has avoided watching the 1990 movie, starring James Caan and Kathy Bates, and reading the book upon which the play is based.
"With any character I portray, I'm always trying to put myself in that character's shoes. If I were in that situation -- where I'm helpless and have to rely on someone to take care of me and who then starts acting erratically," Getz said. "I do the entire show from laying in bed or sitting in a wheelchair. I only have the use of my face and my left arm to act with. It's a new challenge to physically portray the character. It's really on me (to refrain from moving). I'm always one who is always shaking or tapping a finger so to keep my legs still for the entire show takes a conscious effort the entire time."
The "heavy emotional role" is also a departure for Getz as he typically plays the villain. In this show, he's "more of the victim and being the person that everyone is rooting for instead of against. It's going to be kind of nice," he said.
Stewart, 69, said she wanted to play Annie because "there's not many roles that come up for a woman my age. And to have this kind of complexity as far as the character is concerned it's very challenging and became a personal challenge for me to do it."
Both Getz and Stewart said memorizing "so much" dialogue also presented a challenge.
Additional challenges, Stewart said, is "that I've never had a character where she has some major mental health issues. She's psychotic and a murderer. There's a lot to her. She's so complex and is very different from anything I've played before."
Stewart has been involved in CLP for about 45 years as an actor and director. She played Mrs. Potts in "Beauty and the Beast" about eight years ago and directed "Nunsense," a year ago.
Because of its small cast, Stewart said co-directing with Seymour who is winding down a 10 year tenure as artistic director and the collaborative effort of all involved has made it a "wonderful experience."