Playhouse on Park, West Hartford, CT
through November 18, 2018
by Mary Kate Sylvia
“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is a classic play looking
into injustice, the treatment of the mentally ill, and control. The play takes
place in the 1960s in a mental asylum and showcases the treatment of those
living an institution vs those who run it. Playhouse on Park and director Ezra
Barnes remain faithful to the script, and do not shy away from its politically
incorrect scenes which include homophobic slurs, racism against Native
Americans, jokes about rape, and rampant sexism. The theatergoer must be aware
that they will likely be uncomfortable. Warnings aside, the play is valuable through
its discomfort and, in some cases, rectifies its jokes and shortcomings with
insight into the prejudice that was made light of earlier in the play’s
storyline.
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Photo by Curt Henderson |
Overall, Playhouse on Park’s production of “One Flew Over
the Cuckoo’s Nest” is incredibly well done. The set is utterly clinical, and
the stage features practical fluorescent lighting which gives off an eerie hum
that perforates the audience in times of silence. The inclusion of the audience
does not stop at a realistic set, however. A patient named Martini, played by
Harrison Greene, suffers from severe hallucinations and uses the audience as
his basis for them. Though funny, the hallucinations seem meant to invoke a
feeling of helplessness or guilt from the audience. Those seated see the horror
depicted onstage, are vicariously included multiple times, and yet can do
nothing to stop it. Bluntly and figuratively, the production rips the
audience’s heart out.
One final note; the lobby of Playhouse on Park is filled
with pamphlets on different mental illnesses that theatergoers can take to
learn more about social stigmas. It is thoughtful gesture and underscores the
idea that, while the play may be irreverent, the subject matter has serious,
“real world” implications.