Full Casting Announced For ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres Robert Hastie today announces the cast for Associate Director Javaad Alipoor's production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Dale Wasserman, from the novel by Ken Kesey - Nathan Amzi (Martini), Lucy Black (Nurse Ratched), Andrew Dennis (Ruckley and Aide Turkle), Harry Egan (Aide Warren), Joel Gillman (Randle P McMurphy), Clive Hayward (Dr Spivey), Tom Hodgkins (Scanlon), Arthur Hughes (Billy Bibbitt), Melissa Johns (Candy and Nurse Flinn), Mohammed Mansaray (Aide Williams), Shaun Mason (Cheswick), Jeremy Proulx (Chief Bromden), Jack Tarlton (Harding) and Shelley Williams (Sandra and Hospital Staff).

'Dearly Beloved. We are gathered in the sight of Freud to celebrate the end of innocence and cheer its demise.'

Determined to avoid a term in jail, small time criminal McMurphy opts to spend his sentence in a psychiatric ward. As the reality of his incarceration dawns, he comes up against the authoritarian Nurse Ratched, who is not about to give up her regime of discipline and order without a fight.

Rebellion and conformity clash, and McMurphy and his fellow inmates learn what happens to the individual when the institution takes control.

Associate Director Javaad Alipoor directs this adaptation of the classic novel that inspired the cult film.

Dale Wasserman (1914 - 2008) was an American playwright and screenwriter. As a playwright, his work includes How I Saved the Whole Damn World and Boy of Blacktop Road; and the musical Man of La Mancha - which received the Tony Award for Best Musical and was later made into a feature film. His film credits include The Vikings, Quick Before It Melts and Mister Buddwing.

Nathan Amzi plays Martini. His theatre credits include Aladdin (Prince Edward Theatre), Dinner with Saddam (Menier Chocolate Factory), In the Heights (Southwark Playhouse), Urinetown (Apollo Theatre), Rock of Ages (Shaftesbury Theatre and Garrick Theatre), Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare's Globe) and A Small Family Business (National Theatre). His television credits include Good Omens, Sick of It, Informer and he was in Series 3 of The Voice UK as part of Ricky Wilson's team. His film credits include London Road.

Lucy Black returns to Sheffield Theatres to play Nurse Ratched, having previously appeared in The York Realist. Her other theatre work includes Strife (Chichester Festival Theatre), 3 Winters, Children of the Sun (National Theatre), Drawing the Line (Hampstead Theatre), A Taste of Honey (Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh), The Only True History Of Lizzie Finn (Southwark Playhouse), Epsom Downs (Salisbury Playhouse), Cause Célèbre (The Old Vic), The Misanthrope, A Tender Player, How The Other Half Loves, Seed of the Bauhinia (Bristol Old Vic), The Three Sisters, Mary Barton (Royal Exchange, Manchester) and Antony and Cleopatra, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Love's Labour's Lost, Titus Andronicus, Three Sisters (Tobacco Factory). Television credits include The Durrells, Jericho, Call the Midwife, Grantchester, Vera and Wire in the Blood.

Andrew Dennis returns to Sheffield Theatres to play Ruckley and Aide Turkle, having previously appeared in The Boys for Syracuse. His theatre credits include Hotel Cerise (Theatre Royal Stratford East), One Man Two Guvnors (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Of Mice and Men (Stageworks Theatre), Bleak House (New Vic, Stoke), Honk! (Royal & Derngate), As You Like It (Curve, Leicester), Don Quixote (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Three Sisters (Birmingham Rep).

Harry Egan plays Aide Warren. His theatre credits include Of Mice and Men (Selladoor UK tour), Breaking the Code (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Blackthorn (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Tigers Bones (New Perspectives) and The Wars of the Roses (Rose Theatre Kingston).

Joel Gillman returns to Sheffield Theatres to play Randle P McMurphy, having previously appeared in The Way of the World. His recent theatre credits include A Life of Galileo (Royal Shakespeare Company), Saved (Lyric Hammersmith) and Chicken Soup with Barley (Royal Court). His television credits include Gone, The Living and the Dead, Ripper Street, Silent Witness, Walter, Being Human, Frankenstein Chronicles and Garrow's Law.

Clive Hayward plays Dr Spivey. His theatre credits include Top Hat (Aldwych Theatre), Ducktastic! (Albery Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndham's Theatre), Yes Prime Minister (Trafalgar Studios), Twelfth Night (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), The Merry Widow (Holland Park Opera), Island Nation (Arcola Theatre), Frogs, Oh What A Lovely War, Earthquakes in London (National Theatre), Dr Heart, Cyrano De Bergerac and Private Lives (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester) and Nell Gwynn (national tour and Shakespeare's Globe). Television credits include Prime Suspect, The Windsors, Utopia, Law and Order, Silent Witness; and film credits include Private Peaceful.

Tom Hodgkins plays Scanlon. His theatre credits include War Horse (New London Theatre), Gypsy (Savoy Theatre), Network, Guys and Dolls, Marat/Sade, Not About Nightingales (National Theatre), A Raisin in the Sun, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Habitat, Cold Meat Party, The Seagull, Wit (Royal Exchange, Manchester), Death of a Salesman, The Graduate (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Bus Stop, Decade (Headlong), Arcadia (Duke of York's Theatre), The Comedy of Errors, The American Pilot, Eric LaRue, The Histories (Royal Shakespeare Company). His television credits include Suspicion, Hustle, Life Begins, Hawking, Adventures of English; and for film, Hanna, Spy Games, Red 2 and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Arthur Hughes returns to Sheffield Theatres to play Billy Bibbitt, having previously appeared in Julius Caesar, for which has been nominated for the 2017 Ian Charleson Award. His other theatre credits include The Solid Life of Sugar Water (National Theatre), Saint Joan (Donmar Warehouse) and Alix in Wundergarten (The Other Room).

Melissa Johns plays Candy and Nurse Flinn. Her theatre credits include My Versions of Events and Take Back: Our Bodies (Take Back Theatre), The Iron Man (Graeae) and Lucky Little Creatures (Antler). Her television credits include Coronation Street (as series regular Kate Connor) and The Interceptor. Johns is an ambassador and campaigner for the equality in representation of disabled actors on screens and stage; breaking down the barriers faced by disabled actors and changing perceptions of disability. She has recently been nominated for Actor of the Year in the Diversity in Media Awards and Positive Role Model of the Year in the National Diversity Awards. Johns co-founded the company TripleC and is ambassador for Invisiyouth and Models of Diversity.

Mohammed Mansaray plays Aide Williams. His previous theatre credits include Othello (National Youth Theatre and Frantic Assembly) and Jekyll and Hyde, Mrs Dalloway, The Fall (National Youth Theatre). His television credits include Tracey Beaker Returns and Law and Order; and for film, My Brother the Devil.

Shaun Mason returns to Sheffield Theatres to play Cheswick, having previously appeared in Romeo and Juliet. His theatre credits include All's Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare's Globe), Oliver Twist (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Black Lives Black Words (Bush Theatre), Peter Pan and Cinderella (Liverpool Empire), A Clockwork Orange (Glasgow Citizens' Theatre), and Macbeth and Billy Wonderful (Liverpool Everyman Theatre). His television credits include Vera, Trollied, Rellik, Snatch, Little Boy Blue, The Frankenstein Chronicles, Cilla, Luther, Scott And Bailey and Good Cop.

Jeremy Proulx plays Chief Bromden. His theatre credits include Red Forest (Young Vic, Teatro Vascello - Rome and Teatro Ermanno Fabbi - Modena), Of Mice and Men (Maples Repertory Theatre, Missouri) Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth (Magnus Theatre, Ontario), Bones: An Aboriginal Dance Opera, An Aboriginal Journey with Brecht, Miinigooweziwin... The Gift, From the Aztlan to the Zocalo (Banff Centre, Canada), The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (Western Canada Theatre and the National Arts Centre, Canada), and King Lear (National Arts Centre, Canada).

Jack Tarlton plays Harding. His theatre credits include The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Attic Theatre Company), City of Glass (59 Productions, HOME and Lyric, Hammersmith), BRENDA (HighTide and Yard Theatre), Hedda Gabler (Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh), Pitcairn (Out of Joint, Chichester Festival Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe), From Morning to Midnight, Coram Boy, Once in a Lifetime (National Theatre), A Doll's House, Rats' Tales, She Stoops to Conquer (Royal Exchange, Manchester), and A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night and The Taming of the Shrew (Propeller). His television work includes, Dead Ringers, Doctor Who and The Genius of Mozart; and for film, The Imitation Game

Shelley Williams plays Sandra. Her previous theatre credits The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Dick Whittington, Home Theatre, Jack and The Beanstalk (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Take Away, Cinderella and Wah! Wah! Girls (Leicester Curve, Hall for Cornwall and The Peacock Theatre), Up Against the Wall (Bolton Octagon), Jack and the Beanstalk (Barbican), Daddy Cool (Shaftesbury Theatre), Poison and Annowan's Song (Tricycle Theatre), and Hair (Octagon Theatre). Her film credits include Ballast and Two Minds.

Javaad Alipoor is an artist, writer and director. He is Resident Associate Director at Sheffield Theatres, combining his associateship with his Arts Council funded role as part of the Change Makers Programme. As Artistic Director of Northern Lines he works within hard-to-reach communities to make high quality professional practice shows that respond to big international political questions for theatre and non-theatre spaces. His latest play, The Believers Are But Brothers (supported by HOME, National Theatre Studio, Ovalhouse, TRANSFORM Festival and Theatre in the Mill) examines violence, masculinity and extremism. The production won Fringe First and Lustrum awards and was nominated for a Total Theatre award and the Stage Innovation Award at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe, before transferring to the Bush Theatre. Previous work includes Orgreave: An English Civil War, about the Miners' Strike and the Arab Spring and My Brother's Country, about murdered Iranian pop icon Fereydoun. He is currently developing work with the National Theatre Studio, Battersea Arts Centre and National Theatre of Scotland.

www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

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