As a fan of horror/suspense movies and plays, I have always been drawn to the unexpected. This is the story that we see in Misery. Here you have a woman, Annie, who at face value is a caregiver, is truly kind, unassuming and nurse by trade. She is a huge fan of an author whose books transports her to a life she always dreamed she could have. However, she has a dark past and behind this cheery façade is a
cunning, brutal and devious women. She sees the world through a moral lens of her own creation and makes herself judge and jury of those around her.
Stephen King has noted that Wilkes “may seem psychopathic to us, but its important to remember that she seems perfectly sane and reasonable to herself- heroic, in fact, a beleaguered women trying to survive in a hostile world filled with cockadoodie brats.” Wilkes is portrayed as extremely paranoid and it is also suggested she may have borderline personality disorder. She suffers from long bouts of depression and obsesses over details.
This is what drew me to this play. Not only do we have a female villain with a hefty body count, which you do not see very often in horror/suspense, but also a woman whose mental state is cracking around her. These mental cracks are reflected in every aspect of the show. As you watch we ask you to notice not only our amazing cast but also how they act and position themselves, our broken set, dim lighting,
and ambient sound which all helps to drive home Annie’s mental state.
We hope you enjoy your time with Annie, Paul and Buster and find yourself wondering is Annie truly misunderstood, mentally unsound, or just a miserable psychopath?
MICHAEL'S BIO
Michael has been seen on and off stage at many NWI theatres. He has performed in area productions including A Year With Frog and Toad (Toad), The Drowsy Chaperone (Aldolpho), Into the Woods (Baker), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Barfee), Lucky Stiff (Vinnie), Avenue Q (Nicky/Trekkie Monster), and Hello Dolly (Cornelius). A few of Michael directorial credits include Heathers the Musical, Toxic Avenger the Musical, Evil Dead the Musical and Night of the Living Dead at CST and Matilda the Musical, Miracle on 34th Street and Legally Blonde at the Memorial Opera House. Michael would like to thank this dedicated cast and crew for giving their all onstage and behind the scenes. He would take a sledgehammer to the ankle for any of them. He would also like to say a special thanks to his loving husband, Andy, for all his support through this process.