Bringing MISERY to the stage - A Q&A with scenic designer Brian Mallgrave

For the set of Misery, Arvada Center Director of Properties and Scenic Design Brian Mallgrave took on the challenge of turning our Main Stage Theatre stage into a secluded cabin in the Colorado woods, an image that many of our patrons may be familiar with.

We spoke to Mallgrave about how to turn a cozy cottage into a more sinister place as the show progresses, and why he is a lover of the horror genre. 

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Q: We hear you are a big horror fan! What was your familiarity with Misery when you took on this project?

A: Misery was not a film I had yet seen, so it was great fun to dive into both the movie and novel to research and prepare! I am a big horror fan, as it’s such fun to get into the drama and illusion of gore, and figure out effective ways to interpret that in film and onstage.

Q: What are some of your favorite horror aesthetics?

A: I think it’s a challenge to make the effects of horror actually believable, down to blood tones, actions like breaking limbs, horror makeup, prosthetics and weaponry in action. It’s all very much illusion and magic tricks, and the ultimate in producing fear when done well. It’s a true art form in its own right, and one of the reasons I enjoy studying horror movies and horror moments onstage.

It’s a journey to a darker side of things - but also a great exercise and reminder that things are not so dire in reality.

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Q: How did you come up with the vision for your Misery set design?

A: The Misery set was an idea first sparked by Lynne Collins, our director. I then elaborated on her foundation to encompass a cinematic yet viable approach onstage. Our house moves and spins and, in our version, even includes a cross section of the attic. I wanted it to feel like a normal house exterior at first glance that rotates, travels, and invites the audience into the journey as the interior is exposed - much in the way the movie invites you into Paul’s treacherous drive through the snowy mountains as exposition into the story.

The enveloping surround is quite representative of the region, mountainous silhouettes, pine trees, and terrain surrounding the small house, and also shifts a bit cinematically - in our case to not only create dynamic movement, but to help in covering scene shifts by our crew as our house rotates.

A: The house movement - forward and back while simultaneously rotating - is not something we have approached before scenically. Our brilliant Technical Director had a time engineering these shifts as a basis for the design and there were many difficult parameters to design around in order to support the engineering of such a feat.

Q: Any interesting facts about the set that audiences should look out for?

A: The setting is not just two rooms, but the entire home in a “haunted dollhouse” - styled cross section. I’d watch for ways our director enhances the storytelling with her creative use of the entire house structure.