Ryan ChartrandThe Spanos Theatre is home to a fictional mental hospital from now until Sunday, when the Tony-award-winning “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” plays. The play, directed by theater professor Al Schnupp, features a cast from Cal Poly as well as local junior colleges such as Cuesta College and Alan Hancock College.
A large cast of 17 brings this script to life; Schnupp called them a “phenomenal group of actors.”
The plot centers around McMurphy, a captivating inmate who fakes mental illness in order to leave his prison work farm and get into a mental hospital. The play is a comedy, and much of its humor comes in his interaction with the head nurse, Miss Ratched.
But the play is not all comedy. All sorts of emotions are present throughout the play, and Schnupp said the play “moves quickly” between emotions, from sadness to amusement; “It’s a fun play with a serious message.”
Schnupp chose the play because he was looking for something different from what he had previously directed. “I had done a string of classic plays (in the past).it’s time to do something more modern, comic and contemporary.”
Auditions for the play were held in late September, and the student actors are now able to enjoy the fruit of their labors as they finally present what they have been working on for the last month and a half. Schnupp said that the actors’ majors are from “across the board.”
Tanner Agron, a theater arts senior, plays Nurse Ratched. She chose to audition to further explore her interest in acting. “Performance is my passion; it’s what I get a high off of. I’m interested in all forms of theatre,” Agron said. She plans to pursue acting as a career after graduation.
Some others’ interest in auditioning was more simple. Mark Carpenter, Software engineering sophomore, auditioned because “I just knew I wanted to be in a play,” he said. He plays the role of a patient who receives a lobotomy.
According to a press release, the play is based on a novel written by Ken Kesey. It was reworked into a piece for the stage by Dale Wasserman and ran on Broadway in 1963. Kirk Douglas played the lead role of McMurphy. In 1971, a revised, shorter two-act version-cut down from three acts-ran, with a smaller cast. Most recently, in 2001, the production came back to Broadway, and won the Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play.
In 1975, a movie based on the play was released, starring Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, and enjoyed great success. Also according to a press release, “The film version . won five Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Director and Writing.”
Tickets are on sale now at the Performing Arts Center Box Office. General admission is $12, and the student and senior rate is $10. Tonight through Saturday, the play will begin at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, a matinee is scheduled at 2 p.m.