Brace yourself for the cat-and-mouse performance of Misery by William Goldman. This stage adaptation of Stephen King’s infamous story about an author trapped under the dominion of a crazed fan is paired up with an optional escape room that mirrors this palpitating experience.
To provide a more immersive activity for patrons, PlayMakers has partnered with Escape on Purpose, an escape room company whose goal is to host games that will inspire teamwork and fun with challenging puzzles. The Misery-themed escape room has been constructed to look like Annie Wilkes’ basement and to escape, you must solve a series of riddles.
The run-time for this immersive and interactive experience is approximately 15 minutes and will run three times before a performance begins. If you dare to enter the sinister world of Annie Wilkes, we suggest you do it in groups of 6 to 8 people for the best experience possible.
“The Misery story of the play itself was the foundational component of the mirrored basement escape room,” said Salem Jones. “Part of the challenge was creating a room that could give the immersive experience of being within the story, but could still be completed within the scheduled time limit. The puzzles needed to be challenging, but not defeating.”
“Bringing the world of Misery off the stage and into the Paul Green Gallery was crucial to the overall immersive experience,” said Jeff Aguiar. “We knew we wanted the escape room to complement the main plot—to extend the action before the show—and create anticipation around meeting our Annie Wilkes for the first time.”
“Some of the things that make this room unique are the embedded clues, fast reset, and the ability to quickly train game masters to run the room smoothly,” said Salem.
Be warned, this escape room experience includes blacklights, red ambient light, and a thrilling soundscape, so be sure to keep in mind what your limits are.
“If there is one thing that we wished patrons felt when they stepped into the gallery was that they were no longer in the theater as a ticketholder, but that they were actually part of the story themselves!” exclaimed Salem.
“Collaboration with local partners, be they businesses or individuals, is vital to being in a community,” said Jeff. “These partnerships and collaborations increase our capacity to enrich the theatre-going experience while also cross-promoting the work of our partners, whether it be through the thematic concern of the piece we are presenting or the heavy lifting of implementing programming.”
To participate in the escape room, book your tickets today and you will receive a sign-up link two days before your scheduled performance.
And remember, if you want a chance to try to escape Annie’s basement, please arrive on time for your noted appointment (and complete the paperwork too!) After all, you might land in Annie’s good graces… or not.
You can learn more about our production of Misery here. On stage through October 31, 2023.