DEKALB, IL – April 3, 2024 – The first production for Stage Coach Players (SCP) at their theatre in 2024 is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Opening on April 18, 2024, the drama by Dale Wasserman is based on the 1962 novel by Ken Kesey and will run two weekends. The story’s narrative serves as a study of institutional processes and the human mind, including a critique of psychiatry. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is sponsored by Clark and Arlene Neher.
The play, directed by Scott Montavon (The Red Velvet Cake War), is often viewed as a tribute to individualistic principles. At its core, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest pits Nurse Ratched, who rules the psychiatric ward with absolute authority and Randle McMurphy, a rebel who has faked insanity so he can serve his prison sentence there rather than a prison. While a patient, McMurphy antagonizes Ratched and encourages the other patients to stand up for themselves. It culminates into an unsanctioned party in the ward with a couple prostitutes. When Ratched arrives to find the ward a disaster, the patients passed out and another patient, Billy Bibbit, in the arms of one of the women, she threatens to tell his mother.
Even though he’s a criminal and an antagonist, McMurphy in the end, helps his fellow patients find their own voices. “There are things and people worth fighting for,” Steve Becker, who plays McMurphy said. “You don’t have to be a good guy to ultimately do good things,” adding, “There is a bit of these characters in all of us.
The cast for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest includes Becker (Jeckyll & Hyde) as McMurphy, and Lacey Toigo (The Night Witches) as Nurse Ratched. Mike Anderson, John Davis, Mike Groark, Michael Hynek, John McNally, Taylor Miller, Skylar Montavon, Bill O’Hagan, Stewie Simons, Steve Sturm, Chris Swedberg and Tasha Yunker round out the cast.
Kesey started writing the novel in 1959, and it was published during a time when deep changes to the way psychology and psychiatry were being approached in America, including the controversial movement towards deinstitutionalization. And that definitely was in Kesey’s mind, especially since he worked the graveyard shift as an orderly in a mental health facility. Mental health has been stuffed in the backseat of our society for years and it’s the thing we don’t talk about, Montavon believes.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was included in Time magazine as one of its “100 best English-language novels from 1923 – 2005.” As a play, it premiered on Broadway on November 13, 1963, and ran 82 performances closing in January of 1964. The production included performances by Kirk Douglas as McMurphy, Ed Ames as Chief Bromden and a young Gene Wilder as Billy Bibbit. In 2001, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest won a Tony Award as Best Revival as a play for Steppenwolf Theatre Company, while Gary Sinise was nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play as McMurphy.
Toigo said that after reading the story, it stuck with her for days. “This story sticks to you and haunts you.” She continued, “I am still discovering new interesting pieces of the script halfway through rehearsals!”
Montavon hopes people come see the drama because it’s an uncommon mix of sorrow and laughter. He added that the cast is “Incredibly talented (and) in touch with the real world aspect of the people that inhabit the show.”
Performances for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are Thursday – Saturday, April 18 – 20, 2024, and Friday and Saturday, April 26 – 27, 2024, with a curtain time of 7:30 p.m. along with Sunday matinees on April 21 and 28, 2024, with a curtain time of 2 p.m. Tickets are $17 each or $15 for seniors and children aged 13 and under. Tickets are currently on sale through the box office phone at 815-758-1940. To purchase tickets, visit our online website at www.stagecoachplayers.com. You can also call the SCP box office at 815-758-1940. The box office will open Sunday, April 14, 2024.
