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What has to be the most exciting stage show of the
fall is the upcoming One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the stage version of the classic 1962 Ken Kesey novel,
directed by Matt Schwartz for two performances, Nov. 16 and 17, at the
University of Illinois at Springfield’s Studio Theatre. Most people associate Cuckoo with Jack Nicholson and the 1975 Milo? Forman film.
This powerhouse script, however, was originally performed on Broadway in
1963 with Kirk Douglas in the lead. (A 2001 revival starred Gary Sinise.) “I cannot even begin to wrap my head around
this play,” says Schwartz. “It is bold, visceral, hysterical,
and frightening. It stays with you. It makes you react.”
The plot concerns prisoner Randle McMurphy who
decides to declare himself insane so that he will be sent to a mental
institution, thinking that that will be a better life than jail. There he
comes into contact and conflict with the domineering Nurse Ratched, who
handles her patients with a firm hand, to say the least. McMurphy is a
Christ figure of sorts, and the play takes a look at the injustice of some
of the treatment the mentally ill endured just a few decades ago. It’s a rollercoaster ride of a play, with the
kind of characters actors love to sink their teeth into. This TriCara
Productions play features Matt Ratz as McMurphy and Mary Young as Nurse
Ratched. Though Young and Ratz have the big roles, the play is truly an
ensemble piece, and Schwartz has assembled some wonderful area actors,
including Don Schneider, Steve Sykes, Regan Smith, Ralph Shank, Patrick
Russell, and Amanda Ratz. “The best part of this play is that it’s
all character-driven,” says Schwartz. “It is one of the only
stories I think about that incites rage to the point of tears, yet as the
play unfolds you understand why these things happen.”
For tickets, call the Sangamon Auditorium box office
(217-206-6160). Another special offering next week is a
one-performance staged reading of The Exonerated, directed by
Dennis Rendleman, presented Nov. 13 on the stage of Brookens Auditorum at
UIS. This play uses interview and court transcripts of cases involving
innocent people who have been wrongly convicted of murder and sent to Death
Row. Authors Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen premiered their play in Los
Angeles; it played more than 600 performances in New York. This production
of the UIS Pre-Law Center features Kamau Kemayo, Carly Shank, Demetrius
Delancy, Myaa Fallon, Dennis Rendleman, Grant Johnson, Mike Wallace, Cari
Keysear, Patrick Foster, and Nick Teeter. The reading is free. A discussion
will follow the 7 p.m. presentation.
Finally, Over the Moon Productions is giving a staged
reading of the play 84 Charing Cross Road for one
performance, 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, at the Williamsville State Bank on Old
Jacksonville Road. Helene Hanff’s book-turned-play-turned-film
tells the story of a New York writer who orders books over a 20-year period
from a small bookstore in London. Leigh Steiner plays Hanff, and Kevin
Purcell portrays the bookseller. Georgia Dirksen takes on several roles in
the reading.
Director/writer/actor Phil Funkenbusch is a regular
contributor.
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2007.
