Dale Wasserman’s
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST
directed by Robert D. Nation
Andrews Living Arts Theater
Fort Lauderdale, FL
May-June, 2014
Role: Cheswick
Andrews Living Arts’ production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest breaks new ground with Dale Wasserman’s classic play
Press Release by Darren Blaney
Where: Andrews Living Arts Studio Theatre, 23 NW 5th Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
When: Preview May 21, 2014, 7:30PM
Runs: Thurs-Sun, May 22nd-June 8th. Thursday-Saturday at 7:30PM, Sunday at 3PM
Special ArtWalk Fort Lauderdale performance Saturday May 31st at 4:00PM
Tickets: $29.95 adult, $14.95 student. Preview: $15
Andrews Living Arts Studio is proud to announce a new production of Dale Wasserman’s classic 1970 dramatic adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. A theatricalization of Ken Kesey’s iconic novel of the same name, Wasserman’s play depicts a group of patients in a “State Mental Hospital somewhere in the Pacific Northwest” who attempt to remain human in the midst of a dehumanizing system that has failed them. The play suggests that society in general, and perhaps the pharmaceutical industry and sometimes error-prone field of psychiatry more specifically (all of which are personified by stone-cold Nurse Ratched) are partially responsible for the patients’ various illnesses.
Led by the charismatically rebellious Randall McMurphy, a decorated military veteran whose turn to crime has resulted in his being committed, the patients’ half-hearted attempts to overthrow the forces that obstruct their freedom prove to be no match for what Chief Bromden refers to as “the Combine.” Bromden’s monologues explain Kesey’s social theory: “the Combine” is a mechanized conglomerate of social forces (the state apparatus, dogmatic religion, psychiatry, the government, inadequate public education, and perhaps, post-industrial capitalism itself) at work in contemporary life that repress and dehumanize all of us. Struggling to hold onto her power as she battles McMurphy’s will, Nurse Ratched functions as the Combine’s main representative in the play – perhaps especially when she uses her ultimate weapon against her adversary. Symbolically, McMurphy’s fate at the play’s finale provokes questions about the degree to which, even in our current 21st century situation, in which our cell phones supposedly become “smarter” every year while the average citizen’s vocabulary shrinks, we may be all at risk of losing what makes us most fully ourselves. Chief Bromden’s actions at the play’s finale reflect Kesey’s vision that perhaps there is still hope, if only we allow ourselves to become as colossally human as we are at our deepest core.
Directed by Andrews Living Arts’ founder, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest brings together a diverse cast including veteran L.A.-actor Todd Bruno as McMurphy, South Florida favorites Lory Reyes as Nurse Ratched, Edward Otto Zielke as Harding (ALA’s “Doubt”), and Paul Sutherland as Chief Bromden.
Although common beliefs about gender, race, sexuality, and power have changed over the past few decades, ALA’s new production proves that Kesey’s message holds up as well as it did in 1962, the year Kesey’s debut novel was originally published. Considering the recent debates about mental healthcare for veterans suffering from PTSD in the wake of the longest wars in our nation’s history, ALA’s new production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest promises to be relevant, intellectually enlightening, and emotionally invigorating.