| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | |
|---|---|
 Kirk Douglas and Joan Tetzel starring in the 1963 Broadway production | |
| Written by | Dale Wasserman |
| Date premiered | November 13, 1963 |
| Place premiered | Cort Theatre New York City |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey |
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1963) is a play based on Ken Kesey's 1962 novel of the same name. [1]
Dale Wasserman's stage adaptation, with music by Teiji Ito, made its Broadway preview on November 12, 1963, its premiere on November 13, and ran until January 25, 1964, for a total of one preview and 82 performances. [1] Since then, the play has had two revivals: first off-Broadway in 1971, directed by Lee Sankowich with Danny DeVito as Martini and William Devane as McMurphy, [2] then as a Broadway production in 2001 with Gary Sinise as McMurphy. The film version One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was released in 1975 and was based on the play, not on the novel. [3] DeVito reprised his stage role in the film.
The 1963–64 Broadway production starred Kirk Douglas as Randle Patrick McMurphy, Gene Wilder as Billy Bibbit, William Daniels as Harding, Ed Ames as "Chief" Bromden, Al Nesor as Martini, and Joan Tetzel as Nurse Ratched. Douglas retained the rights to make a film version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for a decade, but was unable to find a studio willing to make it with him. Eventually, he gave the rights to his son Michael, who succeeded in getting the film produced. At that time, Kirk Douglas was deemed too old for the role of McMurphy, and the role was given to Jack Nicholson.
In 1982 Greg Hersov directed a production at the Royal Exchange, Manchester with Jonathan Hackett as Randle McMurphy, Linda Marlowe as Nurse Ratched and Tim McInnerny as Billy Bibbitt.
In April 1988, the Playhouse Theatre was the site for the first London production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The play was brought to the London stage by Cuckoo Productions, formed by Diane Hilton, Karin Parnaby, and Judy Kershaw. They raised £100,000 in 24 hours to bring the play to the London theatre.
In 2001, the Steppenwolf Theatre Company produced a Broadway revival, winning the Tony Award for Best Play Revival. This production was directed by Terry Kinney and starred Gary Sinise, Amy Morton, Tim Sampson (playing Chief, his father Will Sampson's role in the film version), Eric Johner, and Ross Lehman.
In 2004, Guy Masterson and Nica Burns mounted a production at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with Christian Slater, Mackenzie Crook and Frances Barber and a cast of comedians including Owen O'Neill. Masterson famously resigned as director & co-producer just prior to opening citing "ill health" and the production was finally delivered by Terry Johnson and Tamara Harvey. The show was a huge box office hit and transferred to London's Gielgud Theatre where it ran for over 20 weeks. This production was itself revived in 2006 with Alex Kingston taking over the role of Nurse Ratched. It then toured the UK in 2007 with Shane Richie playing McMurphy and Sophie Ward as Nurse Ratched.
A production of the play was staged by London's Tower Theatre Company from 23 to 27 October 2012 at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Highgate, London. [4]
In 2018, After Hours Theatre Company in Los Angeles created an immersive version of the work. The Oregon State Hospital was recreated in a 7,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Burbank. Each audience member was provided a costume and a patient wristband. During the immersive pre-show, audience members were tasked with finding clues as to why they have been admitted to the hospital that eventually led them to join the patient revolution. This production was nominated for 6 Ovation Awards, including a win for Best Lighting Design, Intimate Theatre.
In 2022, an Australian Adaptation of Dale Wasserman's play, directed by Chris McRae was created by Luke Miller, Chris McRae and Samuel Yombich Pilot-Kickett, and performed by Darlington Theatre Players in Perth, Western Australia. The adaptation recontextualised the play to 1960s Australia, with the reimagining of the "Chief" Bromden character as a local Aboriginal man, as well as some adjustment of language to fit the Australian idiom. The production included musical composition by Kieran Ridgway, with the inclusion of didgeridoo and didgeribone as part of the underscoring to reflect the new setting. [5]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Tony Award | Best Revival of a Play | Won | |
| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play | Gary Sinise | Nominated | ||
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Nominated | ||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Won | ||
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Production of a Revival | Won | ||
Ken Elton Kesey was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s.
Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman was a Czech-American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968. Throughout Forman's career he won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Golden Bear, a César Award, and the Czech Lion.
Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series Taxi (1978–1983), which won him a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award. He plays Frank Reynolds on the FX and FXX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2006–present).
William Sampson Jr. was a Muscogee Nation painter, actor, and rodeo performer. He is best known for his performance as the apparently deaf and mute Chief Bromden, the title role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and as Crazy Horse in the 1977 western The White Buffalo, as well as his roles as Taylor in Poltergeist II: The Other Side and Ten Bears in 1976's The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Estelle Louise Fletcher was an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of the antagonist Nurse Ratched in the psychological drama film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), which earned her numerous accolades including, the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.
Nurse Ratched is a fictional character and the main antagonist of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, first featured in Ken Kesey's 1962 novel as well as the 1975 film adaptation. A cold, heartless tyrant, Nurse Ratched has become the stereotype of the nurse as a battleaxe. She has also become a popular metaphor for the corrupting influence of institutional power and authority in bureaucracies such as the psychiatric treatment center in which the novel is set.
Psychosocial short stature (PSS) is a growth disorder that is observed between the ages of 2 and 15, caused by extreme emotional deprivation or stress.
Michael Beckley is an Australian actor. He has worked with major theatre companies in both Australia and the United Kingdom, and appeared on London's West End in A Few Good Men and Cabaret. He is probably best known for playing Rhys Sutherland, the patriarch of a new family that arrived in the fictional town of Summer Bay in the internationally televised series Home and Away.
Harriet Sansom Harris is an American actress known for her theater performances and for her portrayals of Bebe Glazer on Frasier and Felicia Tilman on Desperate Housewives.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel by Ken Kesey published in 1962. Set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital, the narrative serves as a study of institutional processes and the human mind, including a critique of psychiatry and a tribute to individualistic principles. It was adapted into the Broadway play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Dale Wasserman in 1963. Bo Goldman adapted the novel into a 1975 film of the same name directed by Miloš Forman, which won five Academy Awards.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest may refer to:
Dale Wasserman was an American playwright, perhaps best known for his book for Man of La Mancha.
Catherine Russell is a British stage, television and screen actress.
Terry Johnson is a British dramatist and director working for stage, television and film. Educated at Birmingham University, he worked as an actor from 1971 to 1975, and has been active as a playwright since the early 1980s.
Ruth Kobart was an American performer, whose six-decade career encompassed opera, Broadway musical theatre, regional theatre, films, and television.
Amy Morton is an American actress and director, best known for her work in theatre. Morton was nominated two times for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performances in August: Osage County and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. On screen, she is known for her performances in films Rookie of the Year (1993), Up in the Air (2009), The Dilemma (2011) and Bluebird (2013). In 2014, Morton began starring as Sergeant Trudy Platt in the NBC drama series Chicago P.D.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American psychological drama film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey. The film stars Jack Nicholson who plays a new patient at a mental institution alongside Louise Fletcher who plays an austere nurse. It also features a supporting cast of Will Sampson, Danny DeVito, Sydney Lassick, William Redfield, as well as Christopher Lloyd and Brad Dourif in their film debuts.
Randle Patrick "Mac" McMurphy is the protagonist of Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962). He appears in the stage and film adaptations of the novel as well. Jack Nicholson portrayed Randle Patrick McMurphy in the 1975 film adaptation, earning him an Academy Award for Best Actor. He was nominated on the "Heroes" list of AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains, but did not make the final list. In 2019 he was ranked by film magazine Empire as the 99th Greatest Movie Character of All Time.
Manasukkul Mathappu is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language film written and directed by Robert–Rajasekar. The film stars Prabhu, Saranya and Lissy, with Sarath Babu and Senthamarai in supporting roles. It is a remake of the 1986 Malayalam film Thalavattam which was inspired by the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest which in turn was an adaptation of the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. The film was released on 24 June 1988 and Prabhu won the Cinema Express Award for Best Actor – Tamil.
Ratched is an American psychological thriller streaming television series created by Evan Romansky, developed by Ryan Murphy and starring Sarah Paulson in the title role of Nurse Mildred Ratched. A prequel to Miloš Forman's 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, it depicts the life of Mildred Ratched prior to the events portrayed in the film, albeit in a different state. Ratched received a two-season series order. The first season premiered on Netflix on September 18, 2020. Speaking to Variety in August 2022, Sarah Paulson revealed that she is unsure if the second season is still happening.
