Many of us have very fond memories of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST. My first introduction was the now-classic film, which I saw the day it opened, without much advanced hype. I was immediately enthralled with its story and acting. Since that time, I was given the chance to direct two productions—both more than twenty years ago. On both those occasions, I steadfastly refused to read the novel, because I reasoned that most of my audience would not have read the book.
This time I have rethought my approach to the material and have returned to Ken Kesey’s masterful novel as my primary source. We have tried with this production to be as faithful to Mr. Kesey’s vision as possible within the confined of the two-act version of the adaptation by Dale Wasserman. The cast has been encouraged to read the novel and have found depth and insight into their characters through the words of the late Mr. Kesey. When possible, we have staged iconic moments, not as they were in the movie, the three-act Broadway original, or the two-act revision, but as they are described in the novel.
We as a cast and production team have enjoyed the journey with Mr. Kesey as our guide. We hope you will also.
-Charles LaBorde
Director, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST at Theatre Charlotte
No comments:
Post a Comment