The play is based on the book of the same title by Ken Kesey and made infamous by Jack Nicholson’s Oscar winning portrayal of the lead protagonist in the film adapted version. The film swept the Oscars and Golden Globes in 1976 for best screenplay, actor, actress, director and film. This production stars rising local actors Tyres Loveless as the countercultural, iconic Randle MacMurphy, a brawler and convicted felon who manages to get sentenced to a mental hospital instead of prison, and MJC librarian and Prospect Theater Project co-founder Kathleen Ennis as the tyrannical Nurse Ratched who rules the ward. MJC Theater Professor Lynnette Borrelli will direct.
Why “Cuckoo’s Nest” as a choice for MJC theater, and why today?
Borrelli responded: “It’s a really good script, it hasn’t been done in this area in a long time, and I feel passionate about the story about all the stuff that was happening in this time period, these two people and this lost society inside this asylum, and I just wanted to show this side of humanity.”
Not only does the director have big shoes to fill (movie director Milos Forman won the Oscar for Best Director), but so will Ennis and Loveless for the roles portrayed by Louise Fletcher and Nicholson, respectively. Undaunted, the actors examined why they wanted to take on the challenge of such iconic characters.
“I first saw the movie and then became familiar with the story and the author,” Loveless says. “It’s a classic and being that it’s a role that Nicholson did that everyone is familiar with and to do a role that he did -- what more could you ask for, being an aspiring actor.”
“It seems pretty obvious, coming from an actor’s standpoint, because Nurse Ratched is just one of those roles in theater,” says Ennis. “As you get older I’ve found that those roles, those really great roles are aimed at younger actresses and so as I get older there are only a few of these signature roles out there. So when Lynnette said that we were doing ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ I jumped at the chance immediately.”
Loveless also thought that the story has modern day relevance.
“ … ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ is reflecting on our society, our medical care and everything we have done to these people. It’s one of my favorites,” Loveless says.
Part of being a great actor is the preparation that goes into the character being portrayed and the “Cuckoo’s Nest” actors are no slouches in that department. When it comes to how they found the characters within themselves, Loveless said, “You know, I could say that I relate, but it was an obstacle as a person, because myself evolving as a person, I’ve become in my mature age more structured; more goal oriented, which is completely the opposite of MacMurphy, so I’m having to get in touch with my big kid again.”
It is even more difficult when, as for Ennis, the character is her antithesis.
“I think part of the job as the actor is to find those things in you; to find that character within you. So yes, Nurse Ratched is completely different from me in several crucial ways. She is neat, ordered, and restrained. I am not. I tend to be completely unfiltered. I tend to be like MacMurphy in that aspect. However, in exploring the character [that is part of my job] I have revealed things in myself. I always look at it like a little ember; you find this little ember that is a part of yourself and it may be small, but if you blow on it and put some kindling on it, you find that it sparks up. She’s been challenging for me to find but I have been having fun finding her.”
For those wishing to partake in the madness, we suggest you purchase your tickets early as they are bound to be a very popular thing for this year’s trick or treat bags. After all, what better way to spend the season of All Hallow’s Eve than with some friends, great entertainment and a few would be lunatics?
“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
October 23, 24, 29, 30, 31, 2009 at 7:30 p.m
October 25, 31 & November 1, 2009 at 2:30 p.m
MJC Main Auditorium
Tickets: $8-$10
For more information about this and other A&E events coming to MJC go to the MJC arts homepage at www.mjc.edu/arts
For pictures, updates, and slideshow go to the Pirate’s Log online paper at www.pirateslog.org
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