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THEATER REVIEW 'Cuckoo's Nest' is a big play, well presented Comment By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted May. 16, 2015 at 9:57 AM By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted May. 16, 2015 at 9:57 AM » Social News Ken Kesey's 1962 novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” was adapted for the stage long before it became the 1975 film juggernaut with Jack Nicholson that swept the Academy Awards biggies: Best Actor, Actress, Screenplay, Direction and Picture. Dale Wasserman's 1963 play relies less on the narration of the character “Chief” Bromden. And until the very end, it's not as dark as the movie, slanting more to the comic side. In the production of the iconic story that Next Stage Rep opened Friday night at the Craterian Theater at the Collier Center, directed by Doug Warner, we enter the consciousness of Bromden, who ruminates in the breaks between scenes. And the laughs are abundant. Maybe too abundant. There's nothing funny about mental illness. But there we were, laughing at the stuttering of poor Billy (Max Gutfreund) and the assorted tics of some of the other patients in the ward. Sure, 1963 was a less politically correct time. And sure, Randall McMurphy (Roy Von Rains, Jr.), who in his epic battle with Nurse Ratched (Presila Quinby) will inject new spirit into the asylum's residents, the “loonies,” is a politically incorrect guy. But the laughs also represent a decision by Wasserman to turn Kesey's tight, dark little novel into a comic drama. McMurphy has been sent to jail, something to do with fighting, and made the foolish decision to fake insanity, thinking that getting sent to a mental asylum would be preferable to the work farm. That sets up the confrontation with the authoritarian Ratched that is the central plot. “Cuckoo's Nest” represents a leap into complexity for Next Stage, which specializes in small (two-, three- or four-character) plays with simple sets that can be conveniently squeezed into the Craterian's busy schedule. With a dozen characters and elaborate lights and sound, this is a big play, well presented. Although there's a single set, a psych ward with a nurse's station, Brad Nelson's moody lights and sound transform the stage here and there, turning it now into the interior of Bromden's mind, now into the hellish site of a horrible surgery. As Bromden, known sarcastically as “Chief Broom” because of the broom he pushes around as he fakes being deaf and dumb, mutters darkly about the “combine,” his thoughts are externalized by dramatic lights and vague rumblings. If there's a real Combine (there is, and Ratched is its representative), and not just the ravings of a mentally ill American Indian, the one thing it can't stand is any hint of freedom. And it's Von Rains' play to dominate as the irascible, ebullient McMurphy, romping and stomping and laughing his way through the deadly routine of Rached's system like the good-timing rebel that he is. If he's all high spirits and indomitable will, Quniby's Ratched, in contrast, is all ice, as she takes McMurphy's measure and escalates her plans accordingly. Part of Kesey's genius lay in his ability to dramatize the notion that freedom is contagious, and thus deadly to any repressive system (or Combine), without coming across as preachy. As Billy, poor, timid Harding and the other mental patients interact with the irrepressible McMurphy and witness his battle with Ratched, they become infected with a new spirit. For the first time in perhaps years, these drugged, regimented, beaten-down men glimpse a little hope and humanity. McMurpy at first subverts the system with seemingly innocent activities such as card-playing, baseball and basketball, but it's a late-night gala with party girls and booze during which Billy symbolically becomes a man that ultimately seals McMurphy's fate. Opening night didn't consistently achieve the electric snap the play is capable of, but it had its moments. Performances are set for 2 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 p.m. next Friday and Saturday. Bill Varble writes about arts and entertainment for the Mail Tribune. He can be reached at varble.bill @gmail.com. By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted May. 16, 2015 at 9:57 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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