Cuckoo's Nest: A Set Design

It’s hard to think of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and not think of a sterile, white hospital setting with patients dressed in white uniforms roaming about the premises. There is a certain comfort in reproducing what people “remember” from a movie or a previous production of the same play, but what is the fun in that?

When Cuckoo’s Nest was officially on the schedule, I knew that we could do something a little more visually interesting with this show. It wasn’t until reading the novel that the first real sparks, so to speak, began. To be honest, I struggled at times to get through the book and wasn’t very fond of it. However, what struck me was one of the hospital’s patients’ descriptions of this machine that was holding him and others captive, while molding them into what society has accepted as normal. His senses overcome by the sound of electricity surging through the walls and the cog wheels grinding and turning. The idea of this giant machine is what I was looking for.

I will have more about the design and also examples of research in the lobby during the run of the show, so I won’t go into details here. I will say that it has been fascinating to research the early years of these giant hospitals and the treatments for the mentally ill (and sometimes not so mentally ill). One doctor took felt that the buildings themselves played a key role in the treatment of patients. Dr. Thomas Kirkbridge documented in great detail how hospitals for the mentally ill should be designed and constructed, from choosing the right spot of land, to the exact dimensions of the windows and doors. Some hospitals built in the Kirkbridge style still stand today, although many have been destroyed or become the subject of ghost hunters and photographers of the macabre.

My assistant, Emily Mazelin, and I have talked extensively about incorporating into the set design, the machine that the patient refers to and elements of these Kirkbridge buildings. The challenge is not only space, time and money, but also staying true to the integrity of the script and subject matter. If we have done our job, the scenery will play together with the lights and the sound, supporting the action on stage while giving the audience a little more to digest beyond white, sterile hospital walls.

-Chris Timmons
Set Designer, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST at Theatre Charlotte