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Bay Area-based director, actor and producer Kimberly Ridgeway knows the writer’s plight well, because she’s also a playwright. But thankfully she hasn’t encountered the kind of dire deadlines that a writer has to face down in “Misery,” the show she’s directing at Palo Alto Players through Feb. 4.
For our new 7 Questions feature, we called Ridgeway for a quick chat to get her thoughts on helming this well-loved thriller.
Ridgeway has written, produced and directed the plays “No More Secrets,” ”Prospect Place,” “Heavy Burdens,” “The Drowning Pool” and “ The Gigolo Chronicles” as well as the short film “The Confession.” She has directed projects around the Bay Area, including here on the Peninsula for Dragon Productions Theatre Company.
Palo Alto Players audiences first saw Ridgeway as an actor in the 2021 production of “The Revolutionists” as spy and revolution leader Marianne Angelle. “Misery” marks her return to the company.
As an actor, according to her bio, Ridgeway counts among her favorite roles on stage Shelly in Colman Domingo’s “DOT,” Mrs. Muller in “Doubt” and Coretta Scott King/Fannie Lou Hamer in “All the Way.” She won the BroadwayWorld San Francisco Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play (Local) as Camae in “The Mountaintop.”
Adapted from Stephen King’s nail-biting novel of the same name, “Misery” itself brings some pretty memorable roles to the stage. The intense tale finds well-known novelist Paul Sheldon, badly injured following a car crash, trapped in the remote, snowbound cabin home of his self-proclaimed Number One Fan, Annie Wilkes, as he recovers. But Annie’s adulation becomes rage when she disagrees with Paul’s plans for her favorite character in his latest work. With the author at her mercy until the snow melts, she tasks him with writing a new version of the novel. The situation turns harrowing when Paul doesn’t meet her expectations.
Novelist and screenwriter William Goldman adapted “Misery” for both stage and film, with the 1990 movie starring James Caan and Kathy Bates in a breakout role (no pun intended). Goldman’s script stays fairly close to the film, and Ridgeway said she has tried to blend in elements from the book as well to bring a different feel to the show.
Read on for Ridgeway’s thoughts on the scene she found most challenging to direct (if you know “Misery” it’s not what you think it is), how she would spend time snowed in and more.
Palo Alto Weekly: In your program notes, you mention that you love the thriller genre. What do you enjoy about thrillers?
Kimberly Ridgeway: I think it’s mainly that you don’t know what’s going to happen. So it’s that edge-of-your-seat, trying to figure out some type of mystery that is happening or what people’s motivations are. And usually, there is either a twist or something that comes out of nowhere that the audience doesn’t know that’s coming. I think that the element of surprise, I should say, for the short answer, is probably my favorite part.
Palo Alto Weekly: What was the most challenging scene in “Misery” to direct?
Kimberly Ridgeway: The most challenging scene probably in your head isn’t the one that was most challenging to me. The areas where the violence is happening was less challenging than probably trying to get the scenes outside of the house. So when Annie is talking with Buster (a sheriff looking for Paul), keeping that fresh, keeping it moving, because it is a little bit of exposition that happens in that scene. And so with all of the other action happening inside the house, how do I keep my audience engaged with what’s happening outside the house?
Palo Alto Weekly: If you were snowed in for a weekend at a cabin, how would you spend the time?
Kimberly Ridgeway: I’m a playwright as well. I identify a lot with Paul’s plight. So yeah, I would just write, write, write.
Palo Alto Weekly: What would you say you’re a Number One Fan of (not in an Annie Wilkes way)?
Kimberly Ridgeway: I am a Number One Fan of all things reality competition-based. You gotta bake something or sell something or there’s got to be an obstacle course or something like that. But reality competition shows are my favorite because you have people trying to vie for being the best at something, especially when it’s a skill that I don’t have. I think it’s really fascinating.
Palo Alto Weekly: What do you think is the scariest thing about “Misery?”
Kimberly Ridgeway: The scariest thing about “Misery” is how much you find yourself relating to Annie. She’s complicated, but she’s not unlike how we as human beings can be based on what your circumstances give you.
Palo Alto Weekly: What do you hope that audiences take away from seeing the show?
Kimberly Ridgeway: That theater can be a lot of things. Especially when you’re thinking about Broadway, it’s a lot of musicals. There’s a lot of family-friendly things that happen out there, but theater can be a lot of things. So if you come to theater for the entertainment aspect of it, then I think you’re going to take something away from watching “Misery” knowing that it’s supposed to make you think.
I do hope not to traumatize people, too (laughs). But I think the takeaway is that these types of genres can be done in theater, and be done well.
Palo Alto Weekly: Is there anything you would like to add?
Kimberly Ridgeway: I would throw this other thing out there. None of us wanted to try to recreate the film. There’s no second Kathy Bates. There’s no second James Caan, right? So what’s important to me is just telling the story, and showing these characters different from what you may have seen. But at the same time, I brought in elements from the book so that we at least paid homage to that. There’s a sense of nostalgia that comes with seeing this play — even if you’ve seen the film before — but expect something different.
“Misery” runs through Feb. 4 at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Tickets are $35-$60. paplayers.org.
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