Pictured: Allison Guerrero-Heideman as Annie Wilkes Photo courtesy of The Players Centre.

Psychological horror makes its mark at The Players Centre with its production of Misery. The play, written by William Goldman, who also wrote the screenplay for the 1990 hit film of the same name, was initially adapted from Stephen King’s 1987 novel Misery.

The premise is simple: famed romance author Paul Sheldon finds himself bedridden in an isolated cabin after being in a car accident deep in the Colorado mountains. His caretaker, Annie Wilkes, claims to have saved him from the accident. She’s also his biggest fan. As the play progresses, Paul begins to realize that he hasn’t been saved–he’s being held captive.

“The play is very creepy and has a lot of psychological horror to it and a little bit of physical horror as well,” says director Kelly Woodland. "It’s an extremely physical undertaking for the actors. There are just three actors and all three have to be extremely physically fit. The story starts off very static, because Paul was in a car accident and can’t move but it ends up with a lot of action. It’s a very physical, very active story with a lot of violent developments that build throughout the play.”

Such an intense and intimate play requires a cast with great chemistry. Fortunately for Woodland, she couldn’t ask for a better pair of actors to play Paul and Annie. Real-life married couple Allison Guerrero-Heideman and Jeremy Guerrero-Heideman star as the two leads, with Jeremy also working as the fight choreographer for the production. “Because of the nature of this story, the production has been quite the journey,” says Woodland. “I’m very fortunate because I have an extremely proficient fight choreographer in Jeremy, who’s playing the male lead and is married to the woman playing the female lead. Not only do they have the opportunity to work together a lot, but I’ve also collaborated with them before. It allowed me to jump over all of the potential awkwardness between the two actors.”

March 10 at 2pm, Studio 1130, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 1130, Sarasota, Box Office: 941.365.2494.

Pictured: Allison Guerrero-Heideman as Annie Wilkes Photo courtesy of The Players Centre.