Feature: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST Presented By the MID-OHIO VALLEY PLAYERS

Mid-Ohio Valley Player's moving and comedic rendition of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest will be heading to the Player's Theatre stage in March. The play, adapted by Dale Wasserman from Ken Kesey's brilliant novel, made its Broadway debut in 1963 and has been revived multiple times, winning a Tony Award for Best Play Revival in 2001. The show features music by Teiji Ito.

Performance Dates: March 9th, 10th, 16th, 17th, 23rd and 24th, 2018 at 8:00 PM and March 18th, 2018 at 3:00 PM

Location: Players Theatre, 229 Putnam Street, Marietta, OH 45750

Ticket Price: $12.00 for Adults, $10.00 for Seniors & Students, $7.00 for Youth Under 17. You can purchase tickets online here or you can contact MOVP's box office at (740) 374-9434. The box office is open at 5:00 PM for Friday and Saturday performances and at 1:00 PM for Sunday matinees. Tickets are also available at Marty's Print Shop, next door to the theatre, Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM.

Website: http://movp.org/ or Facebook Event Page

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, perhaps best known for its film adaptation starring Jack Nicholson, is a stirring tale set in 1963 following criminal Randle McMurphy (Charles "Chuck" Wilcox ) who successfully petitions to be moved from a prison farm to a mental institution, despite not being mentally ill, in hopes of avoiding hard labor and serving a shorter sentence. While there, he encounters the strict and passive aggressive Nurse Ratched (Rena Swearingen), who takes joy in intimidating her patients. Ratched, threatened by McMurphy's rebellious presence, begins to take action in hopes of preventing McMurphy's carefree attitude from spreading to the other patients. What follows is darkly comedic story of rebellion and realization, rife with twists.

Director David Scheimann spoke to me about what drew him to this project. "There are a lot of reasons I chose to direct this show," Scheimann said, explaining that he had performed in a previous rendition of the play alongside his Assistant Director, portraying the characters McMurphy and Harding. This time though, "we wanted to see the show done again, but not be in it." Scheimann went on to explain that, "working with several great directors over the years has made me want to take a stab at directing a show once again. I've been influenced by some great people, and I hope to share those experiences with my actors, hopefully helping them to develop their talent and be better actors or even directors in the future."

Tim Tuten, who portrays Aide Williams in the show, says that this is his first production with the Mid-Ohio Valley Players. He found out about the show after posting a picture of McMurphy from the film version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to his Facebook, to which a friend replied telling him about the upcoming auditions. He explained to me why he chose to be a part of this show, stating, "I wanted to be more involved with the community and start performing theatre. After much encouragement, I figured Cuckoo's Nest would be a great production to start with."

Scheimann explained to me why he loves this show, "I find authors of the bizarre, like Ken Kesey, Chuck Palahniuk, or Hunter S. Thompson, really interesting. This philosophy lets me get away with surreal things on stage and allows me to play with characters and situations in ways that are not strictly limited to common reality." Scheimann goes on to explain, "For example, Chief Bromden is the unreliable narrator of the play, as he is in the book, but not the movie. This is his story; the 'legend' is told through his perceptions, which provides a certain freedom to be larger than life or even absurd. The 'real' McMurphy or Nurse Ratched is unimportant because this play is Chief's retelling of the events, and as long as this is set up with the audience, we can play with reality."

Tuten spoke about his fellow cast and crew members, praising their abilities, stating that, "the cast and crew's contributions to the production, along with David's guidance for everyone's vision of what they wanted to bring to the table," are factors in making this production stand out. "My fellow cast mates are wonderful and very passionate people to work with. David Schiemann, our Director, allowed us to grow organically when it came to character development and the chemistry is there for crew and cast as a whole." Tuten said, adding, "we are all ready and excited to perform."

"I think they agree that we're really having a great time together," said Scheimann. "It's a wonderful mix of some folks I've worked with for years, some who I just had the pleasure of meeting during the recent production of Dracula, and some who are brand new to the theatre or to the Mid-Ohio Valley Players." This eclectic mixture has led to a great enthusiasm from all involved, "We're still two weeks from opening, and their chemistry in so many scenes is giving me chills. I can't wait to turn them loose on an audience."

Schiemann was candid about not always possessing this amount of confidence when it comes to productions he is involved in, stating that, "In my previous production, I tightly controlled nearly all of the technical aspects. I was very afraid of failing, so I didn't want to share it out. In ten years I've learned to trust others a little more, and I am impressed with the ideas I'm getting from the folks doing sound, lights, art, costumes and special effects." This newfound trust has lifted some of the burden of directing from Scheimann's shoulders, allowing him to be proud of what h , his cast and his crew have created, "The crew and I are sharing this together, and I'm eager to share the excitement of what we can accomplish."

In closing, I asked both Tuten and Schiemann if they had anything that they'd like to say to potential audiences. Tuten replied, "come on out rain or shine, I feel what we have developed here will make our production of Cuckoo's Nest different from the others. We'll definitely make you laugh but also give you great drama along the way." He finished by adding, "come support local theatre!"

Scheimann said, "I hope our patrons have a good time. It's a fun show and a moving story." Scheimann did take time to speak about the disparity between the book's depiction of mental illness and what medical advances have taught us in the years since the novel's original release. "Society has learned a lot about mental health since Ken Kesey wrote the book, and the show is coming from a different era in the history of treatment. I'd like to make sure the audience understands that the way the actors portray mental illness is in no way grounded in reality. They are absurd caricatures viewed through the filter of Chief Bromden's schizophrenia. Harding's hands, Scanlon's bombs; even McMurphy's 'heroics' and Nurse Ratched's Machine are all part of the legend that is being recounted by the chief."

Complete Cast List

Chief Bromden - Jeff Walker
Aide Warren - Corey Rutter
Aide Williams - Tim Tuten
Nurse Ratched - Rena Swearingen
Nurse Flynn - Andrea Hartshorn
Charles Cheswick - John Burns
Scanlon - George Gaston
Martini - John "Mack" McHale
Dale Harding - Charles Roberts
Ruckley - Aaron Paige
Billy Bibbit - Zech Suprano
Randall P. McMurphy - Charles "Chuck" Wilcox
Dr. Spivey - Kermit Polan
Aide Turkle - Joe Chamberlain
Candy - Amber Smrek
Sandra - Vanessa Rake
Nurse Eve - Ashley Atkinson

Director - David Scheimann
Assistant Director - Marty Durham
Stage Manager - Suzanne Walker

Set Design - David Scheimann
Set Construction - David Scheimann, Zech Suprano, Joe Chamberlain, Jarod Reebel, George Gaston, Charles Roberts, Amber Smrek, Kermit Polan, Mack McHale, Andrea Hartshorn, John Burns, Tim Tuten, Jeff and Suzanne Walker, Marty Durham, Lorelei and Rileigh Fortney, Nick Bach
Set Artist - Toni Marie Perry
Special Effects - Kermit Polan, Toni Marie Perry
Lighting Director - Sabrina Dye
Lighting Technician - Sabrina Dye, Beth Lane
Lightboard Operator - Sabrina Dye
Sound Design - Kermit Polan, Kathy Biery
Soundboard Operator - Kathy Biery
Props - Kay Doak, Suzanne Walker, Mack McHale, Leslie McGoran
Costumes - Robin Parsons, Maggie Angle, Ashley Atkinson

Special Thanks - Portsmouth Ambulance (Gary Dailey and Scott England), George Litman, and Sophia Traussi

This production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is sponsored by Napoli's Pizza.

 

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