As a diehard fan of Stephen King, I was incredibly excited to learn that Evansville's STAGEtwo Productions will be bringing King's 'Misery' to life on stage.

My First King Experience

I remember the first full-length novel that I ever read - it was Stephen King's Cujo and I was ten years old. If you have ever read it, or any of King's writing you are probably as shocked as I am now that it was my first novel. It isn't exactly what I would call kid-friendly, but 10-year-old Kat Mykals devoured that book, savoring every page and chewing on every word.

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Superfan

Growing up as a typical Gen-X latchkey kid left me with plenty of time to bury myself between the pages of a good piece of fiction and forget about the myriad of things contributing to my pre-teen and teen angst. I almost never went anywhere without a giant novel with me. Admittedly, I read Stephen King almost exclusively until I was almost out of high school. I have even read The Stand... twice - Once as the original published version, and later when I read the complete and uncut printing.

Misery

For the unfamiliar, Misery is the story of a writer and his own crazy superfan. He finds himself in her care after having an accident and let's just say things get really bizarre. It was eventually turned into a screen adaptation starring Kathy Bates.  According to Amazon,

Paul Sheldon, author of a series of historical romances, wakes up in a secluded farmhouse in Colorado with broken legs and Annie Wilkes, a disappointed fan, hovering over him with drugs, ax, and blowtorch and demanding he bring his heroine back to life

STAGEtwo Productions

I was so excited to learn that STAGEtwo Productions will be bringing the story of Paul and Annie to the stage, but I may be even more excited to learn that my friend, and fellow King fanatic, Kim Payne is directing. Kim is even more of a superfan than I am and she even hosts her own podcast, First Time Through: New Eyes on Castle Rock, where she discusses his novels.

See Misery Live on Stage

STAGEtwo Productions will host three shows, plus a WonderStudy show, each lasting approximately two hours with an intermission. According to STAGEtwo,

Written by William Goldman, this play is based on the novel by Stephen King. Misery follows successful romance novelist Paul Sheldon, who is rescued from a car crash by his “number one fan,” Annie Wilkes, and wakes up captive in her secluded home. As the seasons change, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse.
Based on the novel by Stephen King, this live stage version has been adapted by William Goldman, who also wrote the screenplay for the immensely popular 1990 movie starring Kathy Bates and the late James Caan.

Show Times

You can purchase tickets to one of four shows:

  • Friday, September 23 at 7:30 pm
  • Saturday, September 24 at 7:30 pm
  • Sunday, September 25 at 2:00 pm
  • Saturday, September 24 at 2:00 pm, we will be presenting our WONDERstudy show

STAGEtwo@321 is located at 321 North Congress in Evansville, Indiana, and tickets for the performance can be purchased on the theatre troupe's square site.

Books that Have Recently Been Challenged in School Systems Across the US

Across the country, legislators and school administrators are seeing a spike in efforts to prohibit certain materials from being available in libraries. As a result, books that explore topics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and other social issues are being targeted. The American Library Association received over 330 reports in the last year alone, containing multiple books that are being challenged all over the U.S.

Check out the following gallery to see some of the books that are currently in hot seats across the country.

Click on the below links to read an additional synopsis of each book. *As Amazon associates we earn on qualifying purchases.

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