Review of: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest from the
Schenectady Gazette By Carol
King
‘Cuckoo's
Nest' explores true nature of insanity
Curtain
Call Theatre is hosting an important production
of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
The show is thought-provoking and boasts
some powerful performances.
The story, based on the novel by Ken Kesey,
centers on Randle Patrick McMurphy (Brian
Petti), who has been committed to a state
mental hospital. He is guilty of being an
individual with an "overzealous"
nature who enjoys "repeated outbursts
of passion."
McMurphy drinks too much and generally conducts
himself in a disorderly fashion —
disorderly, that is, according to the strict
rules of a society that demands conformity.
And that is what the play is about. It explores
the theme of the true nature of insanity.
Petti
as McMurphy
Petti plays McMurphy to the hilt. He immediately
becomes a joyous presence in the hospital's
day room, where the patients gather for
group therapy, medication, and card-playing,
presided over by Nurse Ratched (Jennifer
Bullington).
Bullington plays the emasculating nurse
as McMurphy's polar opposite. As his gestures
and words are free, fresh-as-a-breeze and
unexpected, hers are planned, precise, and
perfectly executed. Director Steve Fletcher
may be commended for this manifest distinction.
Towering over all is the "catatonic"
presence of Chief Bromden, played with magnificent
subtlety by Keith Mueller. His memories,
executed with pin-spot and voice-over, are
scenarios that are too ugly to be recounted
in a family newspaper and they are hard
to hear.
In truth, the play in many instances, despite
some lighthearted moments, is hard to watch.
But the commanding and touching performance
of Mueller as Chief and McMurphy become
friends make it a must-see.
Patrick Rooney plays the stuttering Billy
Bibbit with all the vulnerability of a sensitive
boy who has been dominated by first his
mother and then his nurse. Rooney's is a
moving performance.
Theodore Zeltner (Harding) does some of
his best dramatic work as the intellectual
among the patients who suffers from "complete
psychic impotence."
Emmet Ferris gives a chilling performance
as the sadistic Aide Williams.
William M. Sanderson (Scanlon, who is "building
a bomb to blow up the whole stinkin' world"),
Steven Leifer (Martini, suffering from Post-traumatic
stress syndrome), Erin Bulman (Candy Starr,
a luscious prostitute), Maureen Neff (doubling
admirably as Nurse Flinn and Sandra), Jean
Remy Monnay (Ruckly, a victim of Ratched's
fiendish insistence on acquiescence to the
rules), and John J. Quinan (Dr. Spivey,
the forbearing resident doctor) all give
solid support.
Cold
design
Set and lighting design by William E. Fritz
conjure the cold consistency of a room that
is not welcoming or comforting. His work
in the "Shock Shop," where McMurphy
and Chief Bromden are eventually sent is
thrilling.
Sound by the gifted Lori A. Barringer evokes
both the metallic clank of barred windows
and the shattering of glass.
She uses an annoying version of "Yellow
Bird," as arranged by the Lawrence
Welk orchestra, for the supposedly calming
music in the day room. Splendid.
