It cannot be easy to bring a well-known film to the stage and make it work so well.
On the big screen, the actors can shoot, re-shoot, use camera tricks and all kinds of devices to tell their story.
On the stage at Newark, Julie Fox and Matthew Hewitt get this Stephen King tale spot on and manage to make us smile and squirm in equal measure, as they make an easy connection with the audience.
They work well together to convey writer Paul Sheldon’s descent into hell when imprisoned by his “greatest fan” after a road accident.
As schizophrenic Annie takes control of “her” author at her isolated farmhouse, she realises she need to keep him there longer if he is to pen a personal sequel for her – and stops at nothing to keep him there. The scene where she breaks his ankles as a safeguard against his escape is particularly well handled, and sent a palpable shudder through the audience.
One gripe was the lengthy pauses used to denote the passage of time, where the theatre is plunged into darkness to the strains of an electric guitar lament. They could only have been ten or twenty seconds but each and every one would have been a more comfortable with just a few seconds less each time. Or maybe it was the ideal time-out to hammer home the agony of Paul Sheldon as he plots his shocking release.
And although it was only a small audience, the actors could surely have found time for a second curtain call so we could have shown our appreciation a little longer.
