Another star of the show is the scenic design by David Korins. On entering the theater we see a snow-surrounded house, with snowflakes drifting down. During the course of the play the set revolves to show various rooms, all perfectly in tune with the sort of home this is supposed to be, located just outside Silver Creek, Colorado, in the winter of 1987.

In short order we learn that Bruce Willis is Paul Sheldon, a renowned author of “Misery” crime series books, and has been rescued after an auto accident by Annie Wilkes, a nurse played by Laurie Metcalf. She has been idolizing him and now is delighted to be tending to him in his bed-ridden state with broken legs. When out of bed he can only move in a wheelchair. Sheldon has with him the manuscript of a book on which he is working, a departure from the “Misery” brand. Against his wishes, Annie reads it and doesn’t like it. Too much of the F word. She wants the manuscript burned.

When Annie tells Sheldon he’ll be “very happy here,” it is clear that she intends to keep her literary idol with her forever. She is ready to use violence if needed, and we see a brutal example. Sheldon pecks away on his typewriter on a new book while trying to figure out how to break free. Meanwhile, Leon Addison Brown as Buster, a lawman shows up to inquire of Annie if she knows anything about Sheldon, who is missed. That’s a mistake.