“Misery” is a 1987 novel by Stephen King that three years later made it to the silver screen starring Kathy Bates and James Caan, with the screenplay written by William Goldman. A few years later, Goldman and Simon Moore, separately adapted it many times for the stage for productions around the world. Act II is presenting the Goldman version of the play this October.

            I don’t usually choose to attend thrillers or horror stuff. It’s not a genre that I prefer.  But Act II’s outstanding productions of “Gaslight” and “Dial M for Murder” in recent years, made it a no brainer. I wasn’t disappointed as Director Mary Martello gave us two very real people, even if one of them did become scary as the play progressed.

            It begins in the living room of the Colorado cabin of Annie Wilkes (Sabrina Profitt) where we find successful romance novelist Paul Sheldon (Christopher Patrick Mullen) in a hospital type bed, bandaged and with braces. He has just crashed on the snowy roads outside the town and Annie has rescued him. Annie was a nurse and has everything the victim needs. and brought him to her cabin. The road to the hospital was snow-covered, but fortunately, Annie has the tools and the medicines to care from him.

            We quickly learn that she is a major fan of Paul Sheldon- to the point of worshipping him- and has read all of his eight “Misery” novels, loving the heroine, Misery Chastain. But in short order, the story takes a hard turn as she learns that he has done something in his newest book with the character, Misery, that she doesn’t like. She also doesn’t like the memoir he has been working on and tries to control his writing by withholding his meds or even hurting him. She is not just his Number 1 fan as she calls herself, she is obsessed with him and his writing to the point of a borderline personality disorder- she has extreme emotional reactions. It is not a horror story but a scary one because she is so real!

            Meanwhile, Sheldon tries to deal with her from his bed and wheelchair, compromising his principles and fearful of what she might do, yet is grateful to her for saving his life.

            I never saw the movie for which Kathy Bates won an Oscar, but I can’t imagine anyone better in the role than the multi-talented Sabrina Profitt. Christopher Patrick Mullen is also compelling in an understated way as a victim trying to just survive. And I would be remiss if I didn’t congratulate director Mary Martello for putting together this powerful piece of theater that was a 310-page novel, edited down by Goldman to an 1:47 film, and further edited to a 90-minute piece with just three actors.

            Act II’s productions often sell out so I recommend getting tickets now to this extraordinary play, superbly performed on its Ambler stage.

“Misery” by Stephen King adapted for the stage by William Goldman at Act II Playhouse, 56 E. Butler Avenue., Ambler, PA 19002, 215-654-0200,   act2.org   thru November 9,, 2025

What can we expect if we live to the age of 78? As we reflect upon our lives as a parent, a spouse, and a friend, what lies ahead? How do we deal with or merely accept our past? In “The Unexpected 3^rd,” Kathryn Grody explores this and so much more in a sincere, yet funny look at her life in this one-woman play that she wrote and is making its world premiere at People’s Light. It is not merely a good play beautifully performed- it is the best one-person show I’ve seen in years!

            Kathryn complains about so many things in her life, but she is not whining. She is speaking to us, to me, about the things that have gone wrong and right. I identified with every one of her struggles, from doing everything to stay young, to chronicling her aging. There are papers all over the stage from previous attempts of writing her memoir and more pages appear throughout her the play as she examines her past and tries to figure out what is next. She asks, “Why can’t we embrace this aging process” and then quotes Philip Roth- “Aging isn’t a war, it’s a massacre.” On the painted backdrop is a Dali-like representation of the dripping clock while she reminds us that the biggest obstacle is time.

            What can she do to be remembered in a positive way by her family and by the world in general?  Is there something she can still do to avoid feeling obsolete, invisible? How can she deal with her sons who are so critical? After all, she was the same arrogant way toward her parents when she was younger. How to connect better with her grandchildren?  How does she stop talking all the time? How does she manage in the digital world?  How will she handle the covid crisis where she is losing one of the things she loves most, touching and hugging?

            Will she ever stop trying to figure out her life? She tells us she has thought about and written this piece over 50 times. She thinks she finds solutions along her life’s journey but then questions those solutions.

So many questions. So much anxiety. So much fear. Yet this is not a sad story. It is very funny as she searches for the things that will lead to happiness and just staying alive. I want to be her friend- to listen and talk with her about all the issues we face.

I enjoyed every moment as I listened to and watched Grody. She is my age. She deals with all the problems I have been facing and with all my own questions about life. When the show ended, I asked a few younger members in the audience if they enjoyed the show. Each told me that they loved it. The friend I went with wants me to try to get a copy of the script so she can relive this finely written piece and so she can recall many of the smart but simple words again and again. The run is being extended because so many people want to see this unusual, thought-provoking piece of theater that is sure to travel to cities around the country. It is not to be missed.

“The Unexpected 3^rd”” by Kathryn Grody at People’s Light, 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern, PA 19355, 610-644-3500, peopleslight.org   Extended thru October 26, 2025

When I heard there was a play called “Primary Trust,” I figured it was about some sort of financial arrangements that have to do with a will or estate. As I know little about that stuff, I googled it and discovered that the play I was going to see by that name won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2024. I stropped reading lest I learn too much about the play. I would soon find out if it was about banking or trusting someone. While the bank plays an important role in Kenneth’s life, I learned upon seeing it, how complex trust is in this finely crafted play by Eboni Booth.

            It begins on an empty stage with the protagonist, Kenneth (Newton Buchanan), alone on stage, breaking the fourth wall and telling the audience “This is what happened.” Then, the curtain goes up and we find him with his best and only friend, Bert, at Wally’s in the upstate town of Cranberry, New York. They are ordering and drinking Mai Tais at the happy hour when it is two drinks for the price of one. No one else sees Bert (Akeem Davis) because he exists only in Kenneth’s mind.

            Kenneth loses his job when Sam tells him that he is shutting down the bookstore where Kenneth has worked for 20 years, since he was 18. Kenneth is distraught not knowing where to to turn, having lost his mother to cancer when he was 10 years old. One of the servers, Corrina, at Wally’s, suggests he apply for a job at Primary Trust Bank. Though unqualified for the job, he impresses the bank manager, Clay, and gets hired.

            Though there is much story to Booth’s play, it is more about the internal struggles that Kenneth is dealing with, from the trauma of his mother’s death to his being shuffled off to an orphanage at such a young age. He resists the friendships of Corrina and Clay, preferring only his imaginary friend, Bert. Can he trust anyone who is real? Can we trust him? Can he trust himself?

In front of a beautifully painted representation of an intersection in the town of Cranberry by scenic designer David P. Gordon, there are scenes of the restaurant, the bank, and the bookstore that are created by simply rolling on a bar, a bookshelf, or a teller’s window. It is exquisite in its simplicity. And the four actors perfectly create a very real story. The ensemble was A+.

Buchanan’s Kenneth was filled with so many confused emotions in such a real sense, that we cannot help but feel for him and his anxieties. David Ingram and Taysha Marie Canales each portray several characters so beautifully and effectively that I didn’t even realize that the two actors were playing multiple roles until well into the play. And I can’t imagine anyone better bringing this simple but powerful play to the stage than Director Amina Robinson. She is sooooo good. I will go anywhere to see a play she has directed.

There is much more that gets revealed, through Kenneth’s direct talk with the audience and his private talks with Bert. It’s easy to see why this play was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. It is a powerful, yet unique story magnificently told. What a great start of the season for The Philadelphia Theatre Company.

“Primary Trust” by Eboni Booth at Philadelphia Co. at Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19146, 215-985-0429   boxoffice@philatheatreco.org   thru October 5, 2025

            Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike by Christopher Durang is a smart comedy that won many awards including the Tony Award for best play in 2013. It revolves around middle-aged single siblings living in the Bucks County country house where they took care of their parents before they died.

            Vanya, 57, is gay. Sonia, 52, was adopted by their college teacher parents when she was 8. The parents loved the playwright, Anton Chekhov, thus their names. They were characters in his play, “Uncle Vanya. Their sister, Masha, is also named for a character in a Chekhov play, “The Sea Gull.”. She is coming for a visit.

            It begins with siblings Vanya (Alan Safier) and Sonia (Amanda Schoonover) living a quiet life in the country. They are bemoaning their lost lives. But it anything but quiet inside their heads. Neither has had a significant relationship and neither has worked for many years. Their sister has paid all the bills, first in supporting the parents, then continuing to pay for her siblings in the house. She has been reasonably successful with her acting career, though she mourns the loss of her five husbands who all left her. She is not an easy person.

            We watch these unhappy siblings as they mourn their own issues and even go after each other at times. Sonia is constantly putting herself down. Vanya is sad and painfully lonely when he thinks about what could have been as compared with the way his life turned out. And Masha (Angela Pierce), despite all her bravado, is just as just as insecure… as an actress and as a woman. She is competitive with everyone, particularly her sister.

Another major character is Cassandra (Megan McDermott), the house cleaner, who is also a fortune teller with some psychic powers. She often predicts foreboding events to come.

Masha arrives with her young boyfriend, Spike, (Dante Gianetta), a hulk of a young man 30 years her junior. He is constantly showing off his muscular body but is not very bright.  They are going to a costume party, she as Snow White, and she wants her siblings to go as her dwarves. She informs Vanya and Sonia that she plans to sell the house and leave them destitute. Still, there is much humor under their painful stories.

Though there are many references to Chekhov, you need not be familiar with the famous Russian playwright to enjoy Durang’s play. The issues are universal, from the dysfunctional family and self-doubt to jealousy and control. The second act gets more serious and there is less humor, as each of the siblings struggles to escape their woeful destiny.

The story is powerful. The costumes by Linda B. Stockton are beautiful. The actors were superb. It is a wonderful tribute to Durang who lived in Bucks County and passed away last year. Under the skillful direction of Ken Kaiser, we watch these real people in this black comedy evolve, and we are listening intently and laughing at the same time.

“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” by Christopher Durang at Bristol Riverside Theatre, 120 Radcliffe St., Bristol, PA 19007, 215-785-0100, brstage.org,  thru October 5,, 2025

            The night before its opening, I received an invitation to go to Souderton, PA to see a play by Deborah Zoe Laufer, “Be Here Now,” at Montgomery Theater. Normally, I wouldn’t respond to such a last-minute invite that is at a theater where I don’t usually review their plays. But I had seen another Laufer play at InterAct Theatre last year and loved it, so I said yes. I was so glad I did.

            It is about Bari (Eleni Delopulos), a woman who is constantly down. She teaches at a college and is trying to work on her dissertation about nihilism. But she has writer’s block, taken time off from teaching, and is working beside two friends in a store that sells Tibetan spiritual statues that are made in China. It is fraud. And she feels like her whole life has been a fraud.  One of the two women suggests she date her handsome cousin, Mike, to forget her woes. But Bari is determined to remain depressed… until she has a seizure and collapses.

When she comes to, she is a different person. She wants to meet Mike. She wants sex. She wants to write. But then, she passes out again and the others want to take her to the hospital. She refuses to go. It is not out of her negative nature but from her newfound optimism that she fears she will lose.

Meanwhile, Mike (Benjamin Bauman) has his own set of issues and survives by building small houses out of garbage. It is his art, that derived from a sad set of circumstances earlier in his own life when he had to live in his first garbage house. He has no phone, no internet or computer, and hasn’t driven a car in years. He gets around on a bike.

The question for each is “how to move on.” What changes dare a person make to find happiness and does happiness even exist? If Bari gets the operation to prevent her seizures, will it take away the joy she feels after each one? Does Mike dare to change the hermetic life he is living?

Delopulos and Bauman are great in conveying their angst- it is so powerfully honest. It is fascinating to see these two characters on different journeys through life who have little in common and wonder if they can ever get together on any level.

Laufer’s play is a unique look at what it means to try to live in the moment while it questions the standard remedies to attain happiness. Director Kristin Heckler has done an outstanding job in presenting this simple yet complex story about two troubled people. In this brilliant 90-minute play.

“Be Here Now” by Deborah Zoe Laufer at Montgomery Theater, 124 Main Street, Souderton, PA 18964. 215-723-9984   montgomerytheater.org   thru October 5, 2025

Tom Stoppard’s first full length play, “A Walk on Water,” was staged in 1964. Two years later, he gained worldwide fame with his play, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” about two minor characters in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”  Besides the two dozen plus plays he’s written, Stoppard’s adapted lots of plays and books for film and television

            “The Real Thing” came to the stage in 1982 in London before a revised edition played on Broadway two years later with Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close, directed by Mike Nichols. It is that version that Lantern Theater has put on its stage. Directed by the multi-talented Peter DeLaurier, it is an extraordinary look at relationships and love through the eyes of his four main characters in England in the early 1980’s.

            It begins with Max (Adam Howard) confronting his wife Charlotte (Brett Ashley Robinson) saying that her supposed trip to Switzerland was a coverup for a clandestine affair that she was having. But in the second scene, we are momentarily confused as the two are in a room with Henry (J Fernandez) and Annie (Cambell O’Hare) and we are not sure who is partnered with whom. Henry is a playwright, and the others are stage actors.

            It gets more complicated as we see that love exists outside these marriages and we watch the four trying to cope with the desires and ideals of the others. “Is jealousy warranted” and “Is fidelity needed,” the characters ask. We watch them bicker and we watch them love, but we wonder if each is telling the truth.

            And then there is the absent character of Brodie who is incarcerated for burning a memorial wreath during a protest. They support his goals, but Henry wonders if his wife has fallen in love with Brodie, or for that matter with Billy (Trevor William Fayle), with whom she is in a play in Scotland.

            Though it is a bit confusing at first, we feel for each character as they try to find their way to happiness which one character equates with equilibrium.  Stoppard’s words are powerful and profound as they not only analyze sex, but the very verb, “know,” which in biblical times meant to have sexual intercourse. Henry ridicules writers- particularly Brodie who has written a piece- who can’t write because they don’t know how to use words effectively.

            The cast was superb with special kudos going to J Fernandez for handling the range of emotions in a very real sense. My only issue with the production was the manner in which the actors spit out their lines so fast that I missed some important information that would have made it less challenging for me. And though I never imagined I would say this-  I wish that the two-and-a-half-hour production were longer so that it would give more bite to this extraordinary play… and I wouldn’t miss a line. As Harry says, “words deserve respect.”

We are constantly asking ourselves what the real thing is- about love, commitment, AND sex. It was a great season opener for Lantern Theater.

“The Real Thing” by Tom Stoppard at Lantern Theater Company at St. Stephen’s Theater, 923 Ludlow St., Philadelphia, PA 19107. 215-829-0399   lanterntheater.org   extended thru October 5, 2025

With the summer upon us, I hadn’t seen a play in six weeks as many theaters took a hiatus. So, I was glad that Act II Playhouse’s first play of the 2025-26 season had a show on its intimate stage in Ambler in August. “Theatre People” is a play by Paul Slade Smith, author of “The Outsider,” a political farce that ran successfully last season at Act II. This too is billed as a farce. In fact, much of the first act was an absurd, silly comedy and it felt like so many of the tv comedies that I don’t watch. I am so glad I am a reviewer and don’t leave at the act break because the second act was superb!

            It revolves around husband-and-wife playwrights who are meeting with a young novelist Oliver (Carl Nathaniel Smith), to show them the play they created from his novel. But they can’t proceed until he signs a contract with the publisher and the book is produced. They discover that he has not signed it because he is waiting to show it to Margot, after which the romantic story was based. He had met her 18 months earlier and has fantasized about her ever since.

            Margot (Renee McFillin) is coming to this mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, where they each have a room. She has gotten there a day early and is in the adjoining room (set up by the writers, Charlotte (Morgan Everitt) and Arthur (Joe Mallon) Sanders to spur on the romance between Oliver and Margot on which the novel and play were based). But when the Sanders and Oliver arrive, they hear Margot through the door, making love with the dim-witted Victor Pratt (Kevin Toniazzo-Naughton), the man she is to sing with the next night on stage. Oliver is distraught. He wants to tear up the novel.

            The story is actually pretty good, but the over-the-top slapstick is too much and becomes tedious. It’s not necessary to turn every third line into a laugh line with some ridiculous behavior. Arthur’s fast blabbering and Oliver’s overly childish behavior acting like a six-year-old having a tantrum, become annoying. You would never believe that he can write a good novel. Charlotte provides a measure of sanity to hold the story together. I enjoyed her performance the most.

            Why, I ask myself, are they playing it so broadly? Director Tony Braithwaite has been for years, my favorite comedic actor and director. But I think he went too far with this opening act. On the other hand, Braithwaite captures the comedy, the cleverness,and  the nuance of Smith’s writing as the story becomes more intriguing after the intermission. It is fascinating how they connive to fix things. I won’t reveal that here.

            There is one more character I enjoyed. Throughout the play, Olga, the housemaid observes the goings on of these theatre people and offers her funny, and often strange interpretations of what she sees. Sabrina Profitt masters this role she almost seems born to play.

            Maybe you will enjoy and laugh through the whole play as many in the audience did. You will definitely do that in the second act.

“Theatre People” by Paul Slade Smith” at Act II Playhouse, 56 E. Butler Avenue., Ambler, PA 19002, 215-654-0200,   act2.org   thru Sept. 7,, 2025

“Little Shop of Horrors” is defined as a horror, comedy, rock musical when I Googled it. The original movie opened in 1960. Then, it was turned into a musical which opened off-off Broadway in 1982 before it moved to off-Broadway where it ran for five years. After that, the musical was made into another film starring among others, Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, Ellen Greene, John Candy, Bill Murray, and Christopher Guest. That’s the one I remember. People’s Light is presenting the off-Broadway hit on its stage in Malverne, Pa, and the production is spectacular!

From the very beginning, When Ciffon, Crysal, and Ronette (the chorus) come down the steps from the audience to sing the prologue (“Little Shop of Horrors”), we know we are in for a special treat. What voices!!!

The story revolves around a flower store worker, Seymour, who works beside Audrey in a rundown shop on skid row that is doing no business. Mr. Mushnick is going to close up the shop when Audrey tells him that Seymour has a plant that might attract customers if they put it in the window of the store. Seymour brings in the plant, which he has named Audrey II (he is secretly in love with Audrey who is in an abusive relationship). It works. Business booms.

Wonderful songs by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken like “Skid Row (Downtown),” “Grow for Me,” and “Ya Never Know” are so much fun to listen to and watch as they move the story along.

The plant is a success! The flower shop thrives.  But there is a problem. The only nourishment that works for Audrey II is human blood, which Seymour discovers when he accidentally cuts himself near the plant. How to keep her alive? And the plant keeps demanding “Feed me Seymour.” The second act gets even crazier.

There’s not a dull moment in the extraordinary production directed by Molly Rosa Houlahan who made some very creative casting decisions that you wouldn’t expect but work perfectly! I don’t want to give it away. She has brought the play to life. Will the plant survive? How will they deal with Audrey’s abuser, a cruel dentist. (There’s a fabulous song, “Dentist,” in the first act). Will the shy and awkward Seymour express his love for Audrey?

Whether you come for the play, which has entranced audiences for over 40 years or come to see these amazing singers and actors on the stage or just to experience this exquisitely told story, you have to see it.  It’s easily the best musical of the year!

“Little Shop of Horrors,” book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken. Thru August 3, 2025.  People’s Light and Theatre Co., 39 Conestoga Road, Malverne, PA 19355 610-644-3500  peopleslight.org   610-644-3500   thru August 3, 2025

“Small Ball” is a new musical about sports but it’s not your usual musical. It doesn’t have the grandeur of “Damn Yankees,” that famous musical of the 1950’s. Rather, it is a quirky story about a basketball player who winds up on an island called Lilliput, where the people are six inches tall. The coach loves basketball and wants a team, which is how Michael Jordan winds up there… No, it’s not THAT Michael Jordan as he keeps reminding us.

            We are drawn in immediately with a song about losing after the first pre-season game as they wait for the inevitable visit from the reporter. But I can’t say any of the subsequent musical numbers were memorable. The story itself revolves around the losing team and how Jordan refuses to pass the ball to any other team members. They don’t understand why and neither do we.

            The coach’s wife is also frustrated with her husband and the team. She is bothered by the fact that on this island, they don’t recognize the number 5. She leaves him and works to prove that the number 5 IS significant.

            We meet the other team members- all three of them, one being Lily, the daughter of the coach. Through projections, on a screen where we see the characters in shadows, we understand the difference in size between Jordan and his teammates. They have all taken on the names of basketball legends- Magic (Johnson), Bird (Larry), and Phil (Jackson). It is amusing, as there are references to other fantasy tales- Horton (from Dr. Seuss) and Lilliputian (from Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels”).

             Jordan (Jordan Dobson), who has not been paid yet, develops a crush on Lily, (Nadina Hassan) though he won’t pass the ball to her. And how can a 5’11” man have an affair with a six-inch woman?

             There were a few fun moments, like the scene where the Lilliputians appeared holding tiny dolls in front of them. But the play was not compelling. The characters lacked substance. Though I understood the genre, the play needed more truth that went beyond the style. The weak jokes got few laughs in the half empty theater.

            I believe that theaters are trying to stage plays that appeal to younger audiences but there weren’t many young ones in the house. A theater ticket is not cheap these days. Despite fine acting and good ingredients in the play, it simply didn’t develop into the production it might have been.

“Small Ball” with book and lyrics by Mickle Maher and music by Merel van Dijk & Anthony Barilla at Philadelphia Co. at Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19146, 215-985-0429  boxoffice@philatheatreco.org   thru June 29, 2025

“Franklin’s Key” is billed as a thrilling sci-fi adventure weaving Philadelphia history, science, discovery, and magic.  Pig Iron Theatre is presenting the world premier by Dan Rothenberg and Robert Quillen Camp at Plays & Players Theatre.

We all know the story of how Benjamin Franklin flew a kite with a key attached in a lightning storm and developed the lightning rod to protect buildings from lightning strikes. This tale begins with a science fair, the “Teen Design Challenge,” where Temple (Jameka Monet Wilson), a self-taught young scientist of 18 or 19, exhibits her creation, which fails and causes a blackout in many places in Philadelphia. She is told that despite it, she has won the first place prize. So begins her strange journey with her younger brother, Arturo (Alton Alburo).

            It turns out that the lights went off in places that were in some way connected to Benjamin Franklin- from Franklin Square (which is real) to the secret building where he did his scientific studies (not real).

            When Temple’s project goes awry, she decides to visit that building to see what is going on. She goes with her brother, who is carrying his cello because he has a rehearsal that day. Inside the secret place, she discovers a box with some strange powers. It is called a pyre and has a metaphysical power of its own. And when combined with the three other missing pyres, she later learns that the person who possesses it, can control things in the world. And a key can add to that power.

            She learns that there is a group of Prometheans, literally hiding under the ground seeking that same power. Also seeking it is Fordhook (Chris Thorn), a man who has befriended Temple and Arturo. But who can she trust in this surrealistic world? On top of that, a painting of Franklin has been stolen from the Art Museum showing Franklin with kite and key as it is struck by lightning. In time, people will search for the key, not knowing exactly what they are looking for.

            I will admit that at times I had difficulty following what was happening on the stage. At the intermission, I asked an audience member a few questions to be sure I wasn’t missing anything. But that is me, not a big fan of science fiction. The younger crowd, of which there were many, seemed to be enjoying it immensely. Then, there were many moments when the Gogglers (they wore goggles and a strange outfit) moved the set around with wonderfully choregraphed moves. It was a treat to watch them with the great lighting effects that followed them.

            As the play moves into the second act, we are brought to the underground crypt of Fordhook and to the Wanamaker pipe organ which will play a significant role.

            Pig iron Theatre has staged an unusual piece of theater with fine actors.  It WILL hold your attention as you try to unravel the strange events.

“Franklin’s Key” by Dan Rothenberg & Robert Quillen Camp at Pig Iron Theatre Company, , 1714 Delancey St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, 215-425-1100, pigiron.org   Thru June 29, 2025