“Striking. Stunning. Scary.” Caleb Patton on ACT’s MISERY
Production photography by Brandon Markin.
“Striking. Stunning. Scary.”
That’s how Caleb Patton, writing for Central Arkansas Community Theatre, sums up ACT’s Misery.
It’s a fitting description for a production built to close the distance between audience and story — to make Annie Wilkes’ house feel less like a set and more like a place you’ve somehow been trapped inside.
Patton zeroes in on that immediately:
“I had to marvel at the cinematic quality of the stage itself.”
The revolving scenic design shifts between Annie’s bedroom, kitchen, and front porch, but its effect is more than visual. The movement lets the story cut from space to space with an almost film-like precision while keeping the audience locked inside the same claustrophobic world.
And Patton makes clear that the effect comes from more than scenery alone:
“The technical elements deserve their own applause.”
Lighting, sound, props, costumes, special effects, fight choreography, and the revolving stage all work together to create the pressure cooker surrounding the actors.
And then there’s Annie.
A Slow Burn with Teeth
Patton’s description of Mary Twedt may be one of our favorite lines yet:
“Mary Twedt’s Annie Wilkes was the slow-burn horrorfest I needed.”
That phrase gets at what makes her performance so unsettling. Annie doesn’t have to announce that she is dangerous. The danger builds in the pauses, the shifts in tone, the moments when warmth curdles into something else.
The result is an Annie who can be funny, caring, controlling, terrifying — sometimes within the same breath.
Across from her, Coburn Goss has the opposite physical task: Paul Sheldon begins the play broken, dependent, and trapped, and has to find ways to reclaim power without giving Annie reason to destroy him.
Patton’s verdict is simple:
“Coburn Goss was marvelous as Paul Sheldon.”
And then he goes further:
“The emotional rollercoaster he delivered was incredible.”
That rollercoaster is at the center of the production. Paul’s fear, calculation, pain, hope, and desperation are all visible — often before he says a word.
And Then Buster Walks In
By the time Jason Scott Morgan enters as Buster, the audience has spent much of the play sealed inside Annie and Paul’s private battle.
His arrival changes the air.
Patton writes:
“Morgan’s delivery of the local lawman had me sitting at the edge of my seat.”
Buster brings warmth, curiosity, and the possibility that the outside world might finally break through Annie’s walls — which only makes the tension tighter.
That may be the best thing about Patton’s review: he isn’t praising one isolated performance or one technical achievement. He’s responding to the way the entire production works together.
The acting.
The revolve.
The effects.
The restraint.
The suspense.
All of it building toward that three-word verdict:
“Striking. Stunning. Scary.”
Misery plays its final performances this weekend at Argenta Contemporary Theatre.
READ THE FULL REVIEW
MISERY runs thru November 1 at ACT.
About Argenta Contemporary Theatre
Argenta Contemporary Theatre creates bold, contemporary live performances in the heart of North Little Rock’s Argenta Arts District. Through professional quality productions, new creative partnerships, and education programs for students and adults, ACT brings artists and audiences together around stories that entertain, challenge, and connect our community.
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