Director Michael Whitehill has assembled an outstanding cast of CHT veterans and newcomers for Church Hill Theatre’s September production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The play, written by Dale Wasserman, is based on Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel, a landmark of mid-20th century counter-culture literature.
Howard Mesick plays Randle Patrick McMurphy, a hoodlum who feigns mental illness to avoid a prison sentence but soon discovers that life in an insane asylum can be a considerably more harsh form of punishment.
Dr. Spivey (left, played by Richard Smith) lectures the patients of the ward, while Nurse Ratched and McMurphy (Felicia Tuttle and Howard Mesick, center) face off.
Felicia Tuttle takes on the key role of Nurse Ratched, a stern disciplinarian who vows to curb McMurphy’s provocations.
McMurphy’s fellow inmates have a variety of psychiatric issues, some quite severe, but none seems helped by the regimen of drug-induced stupor and coercive restrictions.
Other patients are: John Perkinson as Dale Harding, Talley Wilford as Billy Bibbitt, Nic Carter as Charles Atkins Cheswick III, Tom Dorman as Frank Scanlon, Wade Garrett as Anthony Martini, Bruce Jones as Ruckly, and Patrick Fee as Chief Bromden, whose role in the book and play is crucial in comparison to the popular 1975 film.
Hospital staff members are: Justin K. Butler as Aide Williams, Stefan Tisdale as Aide Warren, Nina Sharp as Nurse Flinn, Richard Smith as Dr. Spivey, and Ray Randall as Aide Turkel.
Liz Clarke and Emily Chiras play hospital “visitors” Candy and Sandy.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest opens on Friday, September 9 and runs through the 25th, with performances at 8 pm on Friday and Saturday evenings and 2 pm on Sunday afternoons. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for members, and $10 for students, and can be purchased online at www.churchhilltheatre.org or by phoning the Church Hill Theatre office at (410) 556-6003. Special 2-for-1 pricing is available for the opening performance on Friday, September 9 by calling the office.
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