Review: ‘Misery’ by American Blues Theater is Stephen King’s story of a novelist and his fan

The last time I saw Stephen King’s “Misery” was on Broadway with Bruce Willis and Laurie Metcalf in 2015. Willis was struggling mightily in that production and, re-reading my review , I regret what I wrote in the light of what we now know about Willis’ subsequent health .  I was glad to revisit this lively 90-minute thriller, as adapted by William Goldman from his own screenplay, at American Blues Theater up on Lincoln Avenue.

As you likely know, if you read King’s 1987 novel or saw the 1990 movie with James Caan and Kathy Bates, events concern a writer named Paul Sheldon (Steve Key) who likes to write his hit novels in remote locales. Alas for him, he has a terrible car accident and manages to drag himself to a remote house which happens to be occupied by his self-declared No. 1 fan, Annie (Wandachristine).

She is a creep and a wacko and “Misery” is a playing out of the nightmare of many hyper-popular writers who have to deal with unhinged obsessives among the people buying their books. So it goes here as Annie, delighted to have her idol left to her devices, keeps doubling down on the horrors she is willing to exact upon his panicked, prostrate person.

Director Halena Kays’ production for American Blues (staged in the theater’s new home) is an aptly creepy affair featuring two highly experienced and game actors who know how to play malevolent subtexts in what masquerades as ordinary dialogue.

I wouldn’t say there are any great new “Misery” revelations here and, at times, I thought this medium-stakes production was not scary enough, given what King manufactured from the depths of his psyche. This show requires precise physical detail when it comes to the violence (or the threat thereof) that transpires and sometimes this intimate staging demurs rather than goes for the jugular, so to speak. But as a study in fear and tension, and as a richly acted two-hander (plus Cisco Lopez as the confused cop who wanders in and out) exploring the weird worlds of the nerdy superfan and the popular artist, pursued, Kays’ production has plenty of potency.

I saw some folks around me burying their eyes. And that’s the point of “Misery.”

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

Review: “Misery” (3 stars)

When: Through Oct. 26

Where: American Blues Theater, 5627 N. Lincoln Ave.

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Tickets: $30-$60 at 773-654-3103 and www.americanbluestheater.com