Misery is off the chopping block

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff

The Oct. 11, 2018 edition of the Sandpoint Reader features candidate interviews, news of a bobcat sighting on the Long Bridge and an article announcing the cancellation of a local theater production featuring the title: “‘Misery’ play gets the axe.”

Anyone familiar with the Stephen King novel Misery will appreciate the play-on-words in that headline — props to Editor Emeritus Cameron Rasmusson for that one — and also remember the article with dismay. Cade Prophet Memorial Productions, which was slated to put on a play adaptation of Misery later that month, was forced to cancel in the face of a rights dispute.

Kate McAlister and Ken Wood share the stage in Misery. Courtesy photo.

“At the time, we didn’t have an option. We just couldn’t do it,” said CPMP founder and director Dorothy Prophet. “I told [Warner Brothers], ‘If you ever get to the point where you’ve settled your dispute and we can get the rights, let me know.’ 

“I really didn’t think I’d ever hear from them again,” she said, “but earlier this year, they got in touch with me.”

Misery is back on — and just in time for Halloween — with Kate McAlister reprising her role as murderous villain Annie Wilkes and Ken Wood starring opposite her as captive author Paul Sheldon. While some may be familiar with the 1990 film adaptation of King’s novel, Prophet said the upcoming production of Misery, slated for Friday, Oct. 28-Sunday, Oct. 30 at the Panida Theater, sticks closer to the book. The performance is rated R, and not suitable for children under 16.

“We, in doing the theater version of it, have put Annie back into Stephen King’s version of it,” she said. “She has no redeeming qualities. She is just horrid.”

McAlister, one of Sandpoint’s hardest working and well known thespians, called playing Annie “an interesting journey to say the least,” adding that her usual characters are “much lighter.”  

“It is definitely emotionally draining playing a serial killer,” she said, adding that it’s been a “challenge” maintaining the character’s darkness. 

“She has been killing people since she was 11, when she burned down her house with everyone in it — except for her of course,” McAlister said. “Good thing she is fictional.”

Misery marks Wood’s first local performance in a leading role, which he said he’s looking forward to.

“I have a ton of trust in Kate, which is so important given that we are the only two actors on stage for this production,” he said. “In any live performance, you have to know and have faith in your fellow performers, because if you get lost or miss a line, they are there to back you. Kate is an absolute professional on stage and I couldn’t ask for someone better to be on stage with.”

In Misery, Annie Wilkes cares for Paul Sheldon following a car crash. She is the self-proclaimed “biggest fan” of the bestselling romance writer, but when she finds out that Paul plans to kill off her favorite character, things take a gory turn.

“For me, Misery talks about catharsis,” Prophet said. “Paul Sheldon, in the beginning of the show, is an egotistical, spoiled rotten, misogynistic asshole. … He’s just icky. But at the end of the show, after Annie has broken him, he’s a very different person. He has gone through a genuine change. Ken Wood plays that very well.”

Wood said he hopes that the audience can feel Paul’s desperation.

“In this show, he is not only bed-ridden and dependent on Annie for survival, [but] he is also addicted to painkillers,” he said. “He has gone from a life of fame to being completely broken. I hope the audience feels that and how even in a hopeless situation, my character still has a will to live and survive.”

McAlister said her favorite part about preparing to perform Misery has been spending time with Prophet and Wood.

“Doing theater creates a trust bond,” she said. “I was never athletic, but to me, theater is my team sport. It takes every person — whether it’s out front acting, or stage crew or set builders, and especially the director.”

Prophet started Cade Prophet Memorial Productions in honor of her son, Cade, who died in 2017. He loved cats, so part of the production company’s mission has been donating proceeds to the Panhandle Animal Shelter, now known as Better Together Animal Alliance.

“We want to encourage people who knew Cade, or those who have only heard of him since his death, to look for ways to pay it forward everyday,” Prophet notes on the CPMP website. “We can help turn the tide. We can find and celebrate the good, encourage the positive and be kind.”

Misery (R) • Friday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 30, 3 p.m.; doors open 30 minutes before the show; $25. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave., 208-263-9191. Get tickets at the door or panida.org. Learn more at cadeprophet.org.