Avon Players Presents MISERY

A writer discovers the dark side of fandom when he finds himself at the mercy of an unhinged stranger as Avon Players presents Misery running March 10-25.

Based on the bestselling novel by master of horror Stephen King that became the iconic film, Misery follows successful romance novelist Paul Sheldon (Jeff Stillman), who is rescued from a car crash by his number one fan, Annie Wilkes (Laura Flores). When Annie reads his latest manuscript and discovers the author has killed off her favorite character, Misery Chastain, she becomes enraged, and Paul's convalescence quickly becomes his captivity in Annie's secluded mountain home. Through increasingly deranged means, Annie forces Paul to write a new novel. Now the novelist must plot his escape while quite literally writing for his life.

The play is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, first published by Viking Press in 1987. The book won the first annual Bram Stoker Award for superior achievement in horror writing. It was a commercial success, earning the fourth spot on the bestseller list for its year. Critical reception was also positive with critics praising King for relying less on fantasy elements compared to his earlier works. Instead of supernatural threats, Misery presents a chilling exploration of toxic fandom in a realistic setting. Rob Reiner directed the 1990 film adaptation starring Kathy Bates and James Caan. Bates won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Annie, making Misery the only film based on a King novel to win an Oscar. The 2015 Broadway stage adaptation starred Laurie Metcalf and Bruce Willis.

Director Mike Olsem was drawn to Misery in part because of how the play's terror emerges from a seemingly mundane and even comforting setting, which Olsem sees as a thread running through all of King's works: "King himself has said in interviews that he didn't necessarily set out to be a horror writer, but that as he began writing about characters in placid small towns, he kept wondering what would happen if something powerful, unexpected, and sinister should disrupt their normal lives and routines." In Olsem's view, this results in the challenge of creating a production in which Paul's sense of the danger he is in must build over time. "In the hands of a former nurse, a caretaker, his recovery should be a peaceful one, but, bit by bit, clues stack up that this 'normal' relationship is anything but."

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