Author and counter-cultural figure Ken Kesey was inspired to write One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by his experiences working the night shift at a VA Hospital and taking part in scientific experiments exploring the effects of hallucinogenic drugs. Take a moment to digest that-and consider how such a fringe experience could inspire a novel that was an immediate success when published in 1962. It then went on to sweep the Academy Awards for the film adaptation released in 1975.
"We attempt to...ask the audience to examine with us the idea of our inhumanity to each other and our moral obligations to one another." Deb Bowen (Nurse Ratched)
Cuckoo's Nest continues to have revelatory appeal to social contemplatives and high interest among actors and directors to stage the show. Big Dawg Productions hired J.R. Rodriguez to direct this production-and he's made an interesting staging decision. If you've seen the play before, this might be an entirely new experience. Actors Deb Bowen (Nurse Ratched) and Hal Cosec (McMurphy), along with director Rodriguez stopped in to give us a little peek into the Nest they've created for local audiences.
Performances run from May 7-May 24 @ 8:00 Thursdays-Saturdays + 3:00 Sundays. Thursday is always discount night, with $16 tickets for everyone. Performances are at the Cape Fear Playhouse on Castle Street.