One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

This play, based on the novel of Ken Kesey, was one I knew little of, except that it concerned mental illness. It is set in a ward of a State Mental Hospital in the 1960s and I was expecting to be very depressed by the end of the evening, but I was not. The play is extremely thought provoking and has much strong language, but it has its lighter moments.

Randle P McMurphy a man in his thirties with a history of drunkenness, assault and battery, disturbing the peace, gambling and an arrest for rape, has decided he will avoid the hard labour of working on the prison farm by convincing the guards he needs psychiatric treatment and work out the rest of his sentence in comparative ease. He discovers that unfortunately once he has been committed his release depends on the staff at the Hospital, so he could be there for years. The play explores the effect that a ‘sane’ man has on the rest of the inmates and the staff; also the methods of treatment used at that time.

The set created the stark institution of an old hospital ward. It had the Nurses glass fronted office and viewing station upstage centre, with sliding window to administer medication, shelves with all the files, switches for controlling the lights and piped music and microphone to make announcements, with the all important ‘panel’ in front which houses the electrical supply to the station.  There were areas down stage left and upstage right with tables and chairs, an area downstage right with a rocking chair and doors and doorways leading to dormitories, cleaning cupboard, the washroom and the rest of the hospital. The wrist supports on the wall must have made life a bit easier for Ruckley, the length of time he spent in the ‘crucifer’ position. Lighting was well designed and operated creating the different times of day, with interesting effects in Chief Bromden’s soliloquies; these combined with sound effects created the world to which the Chief escaped to commune with his father, it worked well. The costumes helped create the feeling of ‘institution’, with the inmates in hospital tops and elasticated trousers, in stark contrast to the crisps whites of the staff.

The play had been well cast, with the ‘patients’ having developed individual mannerisms and idiosyncrasies of character, some may have been a little OTT but all to be commended on the level of concentration required to maintain the mannerisms. Chief Bromden, who everyone thinks is a deaf mute, was played as a gentle giant whose confidence has been eroded by personal family history and incarceration; but he eventually becomes ‘big enough’. Dale Harding, President of the Patients Council, is full of his own self-importance in the role, but during Group Therapy, shows his vulnerability when his sexual prowess is questioned. Billy Bibbit was portrayed as a fresh-faced innocent, who was very disturbed and had a stammer, which was well maintained.  Martini displayed child-like qualities, and was constantly hallucinating; he displayed constant strong mannerisms and must have been exhausted at the end of the evening.  Randle P. McMurphy was well portrayed as the likeable rogue who has seized on what he thinks is an easy way of serving his remaining sentence, but his problems are of a moral nature not a mental one. He is not insane and although is on the wrong side of the law has a strong sense of ‘fair play’ and can see how the patients are being undermined and humiliated in the guise of ‘treatment’, and tries to do something about it, with disastrous consequences. Ruckley, was a physically challenging role, with a few interspersed expletives. The other ‘patients’ supported and contributed to the action throughout. The Aides showed a definite lack of consideration for the patients and their problems, with Aide Turkle more interested in his drink. Nurse Flinn was a shy character totally dominated by Nurse Ratched and embarrassed by the patients. Dr. Spivey showed he had a certain amount of compassion towards the patients, but was out of his depth when confronted by Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched was a very demanding role, a lady with a ready smile which concealed an extremely manipulative, sadistic nature; she always needs to be in total charge, and woe betide any one who stands in her way.  She displayed a character of the iron fist in the velvet glove very well. Candy and Sandra, the ‘good time girls’ were minor roles but important to the development of the story.

This was a brave choice by director Simon Carney for his first full-length play and had been well cast and directed. The characters developed well, with them becoming more confident, leaving you wondering what would happen to them next. The way the conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy intensified as the play progressed was excellent. The moments of humour had been identified and brought out, giving a well-balanced play. Well done everyone.

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