‘Misery’ runs weekends through March 8 at Garfield Center for the Arts

CHESTERTOWN — The Garfield Center for the Arts begins its 2026 season with an edge-of-your-seat thriller by master storyteller Stephen King.

Adapted for the stage by playwright William Goldman, King’s “Misery” opened Feb. 20 and runs weekends through March 8.

The production is sponsored by Peoples powered by Hanscom Federal Credit Union.

“Misery” is one of King’s more well-known novels, partly due to the accessibility and quality of its film version and greatly due to the Oscar-winning performance by Kathy Bates as mentally unbalanced former nurse Annie Wilkes.

To date, the Oscar for Bates holds the distinction of being the only Stephen King story-turned-film to earn an Academy Award, despite other great film adaptations like “Stand By Me,” “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile.”

“Misery” introduces us to Paul Sheldon, a celebrated writer who has become disenchanted with his famous literary creation, Misery Chastain, the lead character in a series of romance novels. Wanting to break his reputation free from the Misery series, Sheldon decides to kill off the character and move on to greener pastures.

After completing the final Misery novel at his cabin in Colorado, Sheldon gets caught in a blizzard which results in a terrible car accident.

His badly injured body and manuscript are discovered by Wilkes, who brings him to her secluded home to nurse him back to health.

Things begin to take a dark turn when Annie, who is already displaying odd and worrisome behavior, reads the new Misery manuscript. Her fury over Misery’s death erupts, resulting in a psychological and physical battle between the cunning, brutal and devious ex-nurse and her incapacitated victim.

Playing the role of Annie Wilkes is Brianna Johnson. A very familiar face at the Garfield, Johnson’s credits include Poppy in “Noises Off,” Susan in “Prescription Murder,” various roles in “The Elephant Man” and “A Rock Sails By,” and Berdine in “Psycho Beach Party.” She also has directed for and performed in Short Attention Span Theatre.

At Church Hill Theatre, Johnson played Johnna in “August: Osage County” and Eli in “Charley’s Aunt.”

Matt Folker portrays Paul Sheldon. Folker has performed in many productions across the Eastern Shore. At the Garfield Center, he is known for playing Lloyd in “Noises Off,” Carr-Gomm in “The Elephant Man” and Judge Turpin in “Sweeney Todd.” At Church Hill Theatre, he has been seen in “Footloose” as Reverend Shaw and “The Rocky Horror Show” as Frank-n-Furter — among other roles.

Performing as Sheriff Buster is John Mann. He has been on the Garfield stage many times over the years, including roles in “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Addams Family,” Short Attention Span Theatre, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Shrek.” He also has directed for Short Attention Span Theatre.

JW Ruth is the director and the production’s sound designer. Over the past four years he has taken up a variety of roles at the Garfield Center, including the title role in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” Uncle Fester in “The Addams Family Musical” and Lumiere in “Beauty and the Beast.”

More recently, Ruth has begun to take a seat in the director’s chair, as music director for the Garfield’s production of “Lucky Stiff” and then as a Garfield Center for the Arts director with “Happy Birthday Wanda June.” He also was the director and music director for “Bridges of Madison County” at Church Hill Theatre.

Assisting with the production are stage manager Jordan Dixon; assistant stage manager Dominic Delcoco; costumer Connie Fallon; makeup artist Adrienne Wrona, who also contributed to the production’s special effects; lighting designer Nic Carter; and Macy Morris helping with the backstage crew.

The set design is from JW Ruth and Butch Clark, who also is the Garfield’s technical director. Jim Landskroener assisted Clark in construction of the set.

“Misery” runs weekends through March 8. Performances start at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m on Sundays.

The Garfield Center for the Arts is located at 210 High St. in downtown Chestertown.

For tickets, the box office is open for phone or lobby purchases on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased anytime online at Eventbrite, www.eventbrite.com/e/1980572724334.

There also is a link to Eventbrite purchasing on the Garfield Center for the Arts website at www.garfieldcenter.org.