CONVERSATIONS with Ed Tracy

Inspire. Educate. Entertain.

CONVERSATIONS|PicksInSix®Reviews featuring short form critical reviews and podcasts with authors and influential leaders in the arts, media and business.

Filtering by Tag: Janet Davies

PicksInSix Review: Misery - Dunes Arts Summer Theatre

 
 

Gripping ‘Misery’ Opens Dunes Summer Season!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

The Dunes Arts Summer Theatre opened their 74th season Friday with a chilling production of William Goldman’s “Misery,” based on Stephen King’s 1987 bestselling thriller about a well-known romance novelist who awakens from a near-fatal car crash in a blizzard to find himself in the remote Colorado home of Annie Wilkes, his self-proclaimed number one fan.

The book, and 1990 film version starring Kathy Bates and James Caan, ranks high among psychological thrillers and the nefarious Annie Wilkes is considered one of the wickedest characters ever imagined, earning Bates the Academy Award for Best Actress. Laurie Metcalf played the role in the 2015 Broadway production opposite Bruce Willis.

Veteran director John Hancock’s tightly wound show stars Janet Davies, the multi-talented Chicago entertainment television reporter and program host and Dunes veteran Kevin Lee Giese as the incapacitated writer Paul Sheldon whose dire predicament goes from bad to worse with no end in sight. Davie’s Annie crackles with intensity as she shifts effortlessly from dutiful caretaker to ruthless despot. Hancock is able to draw out the macabre comic sensibility in the text and Davies makes the most of every opportunity.

Things start to heat up when it comes to light that Sheldon has put an end to Misery Chastain (Emmie Reigel) in his ninth and final book of the series. Annie’s intentions are revealed as she spirals into a rage and demands that they bring her back for another book. Giese expertly navigates the shock and uncertainty of his situation with a desperation and fear that you can feel. As weeks turn quickly into months, it’s clear that he is a prisoner, that Annie has no plans to let him go and is taking steps along the way to prolong his agony and inflict more pain.

Dunes veteran Jim Lampl plays the inquisitive local sheriff Buster who comes around in the spring when the snow cover reveals Sheldon’s car wreck. But when Annie learns that the news of Sheldon’s disappearance has piqued the interest of the FBI, the story takes yet another dark and sinister turn.

The drama plays out on Michael Lasswell’s stunning, and amazingly versatile, set with surprises all its own. When combined with an exceptional atmospheric lighting design by Arturo Pozos, the captivating sound by Jake Tillman and music by composer Christopher Ussery, the Dunes “Misery,” running through June 15, is one of the most visually compelling and suspenseful productions in recent years.  The 2025 season continues with “Outside Mullingar” from June 27 through July 13 and the musical “She Loves Me” July 25 through August 10.

PHOTO | Tony V. Martin

Dunes Arts Summer Theatre
presents
Misery
268 Shady Oak Drive
Michigan City, Indiana
through June 15, 2025


WEBSITE

TICKETS

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Copyright 2014-2025

Roxbury Road Creative, LLC

Powered by Squarespace