Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NEST
THE CUCKOO'S
Dale Wasserman
a
p l a y
By
Based on the novel By Ken Kesey
OCTOBER 13 WITH
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. BEFORE THE CURTAIN RISES
Cast & Creative Team 2
Theatre Etiquette 3
About the Playwright: Dale Wasserman 4
About the Original Author: Ken Kesey 5
Interesting Facts About the Novel, Play and Film 6
Where Did the Title of the Novel and Play Come From? 7
Setting of the Play 7
Who’s Who in the Play 8
Summary of the Play 9
What Category of Play is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 10
Did You Know? A Glossary of Allusions and Vocabulary 10 ‐ 12
Vocabulary Improvement 13
II. WHILE THE CURTAIN IS UP
Plot 14
Character 14‐15
Setting and Mood 15
Theme 15‐16
III. AFTER THE CURTAIN FALLS
Reflect on Pre‐Performance Activities 17
Cast a Feature Film Version of the Play 17
Create an Act Three for the Play 17
Write a Different Ending for the Play 18
Write a Review 18
Write a Letter to the Director 18
Reflective Writing on the Theatre Experience 18
Representing Character, Conflict and Theme 19
Matching Quiz 19‐20
IV. ANSWER KEYS
Answers to Vocabulary Development Exercise 21
Answers to Matching Quiz 22
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THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM
Manitoba Theatre Centre
Presents
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST
By Dale Wasserman. Based on the Novel by Ken Kesey
Directed by Miles Potter
In Co‐Production with Theatre Calgary
CAST
Chief Bromden Bernard Starlight
Aide Warren Kudjo Fiakpui
Aide Williams Ray Strachan
Nurse Ratched Vickie Papavs
Nurse Flinn/Sandra Arielle Rombough
Dale Harding Graham Percy
Billy Bibbit Trevor Rueger
Scanlon Frank Adamson
Charles Cheswick Stan Lesk
Martini Tony Eyamie
Ruckly Aaron Conrad
Randle P. McMurphy Shaun Smyth
Dr. Spivey Jon Ted Wynne
Aide Turkle Ardon Bess
Candy Starr Camille Devine
CREATIVE TEAM
Director Miles Potter
Set Design Allan Stichbury
Costume Design Gillian Gallow
Lighting Design Kevin Lamotte
Sound Design Marc Desormeaux
Fight Direction Jean‐Pierre Fournier
Vocal Coach Jane MacFarlane
Stage Manager Ailsa Birnie
Assistant Stage Manager Margaret Brook
Apprentice Stage Manager Matthew Lagacé
This Study Guide was prepared by Dom Saliani
and Shari Wattling, Literary & Education Manager, Theatre Calgary
MTC thanks Dom, Shari and Theatre Calgary for the use of this informative guide.
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THEATRE ETIQUETTE
“The theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental.
It's so much like life.” – Arthur Miller
Arrive Early: Latecomers may not be admitted to a performance. Please ensure you arrive with
enough time to find your seat before the performance starts.
Cell Phones and Other Electronic Devices: Please TURN OFF your cell phones/iPods/gaming
systems/cameras. We have seen an increase in texting, surfing, and gaming during
performances, which is very distracting for the performers and other audience members. The
use of cameras and recording devices is strictly prohibited.
Talking During the Performance: You can be heard (even when whispering!) by the actors
onstage and the audience around you. Disruptive patrons will be removed from the theatre.
Please wait to share your thoughts and opinions with others until after the performance.
Food/Drinks: Food and drinks are not allowed in the theatre. Where there is an intermission,
concessions may be open for purchase of snacks and drinks. There is complimentary water in
the lobby.
Dress: There is no dress code at the Manitoba Theatre Centre, but we respectfully request that
patrons refrain from wearing hats in the theatre. We also strive to be a scent‐free environment,
and thank all patrons for their cooperation.
Leaving During the Performance: If an audience member leaves the theatre during a
performance, they will be readmitted at the discretion of our Front of House staff. Should they
be readmitted, they will not be ushered back to their original seat, but placed in a vacant seat at
the back of the house.
Being Asked to Leave: The theatre staff has, and will exercise, the right to ask any member of
the audience to leave the performance if that person is being disruptive. Inappropriate and
disruptive behaviour includes, but is not limited to: talking in the audience; using electronic
devices, cameras, laser pointers, or other light‐ or sound‐emitting devices; and/or deliberately
interfering with an actor or the performance (tripping, throwing items on or near the stage,
etc.).
Talkbacks: All Tuesday evening and weekday matinee performances at MTC feature a talkback
with members of the cast following the show. While watching the performance, make a mental
note of questions to ask the actors. Questions can be about the story, the interpretation, life in
the theatre, etc.
Enjoy the show: Laugh, applaud, cheer and respond to the performance appropriately. Make
sure to thank all the artists for their hard work with applause during the curtain call.
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I. BEFORE THE CURTAIN RISES
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: DALE WASSERMAN
Dale Wasserman He wrote over 30 television dramas. One of
was born on these plays, I, Don Quixote was eventually
November 2, 1914 turned into the hit Broadway musical, Man of La
in Rhinelander, Mancha.
Wisconsin. His
parents were Wasserman also wrote or contributed to the
Russian immigrants writing of screenplays for a number of movies,
who, interestingly including The Vikings and the epic Cleopatra
enough, operated which starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard
silent movie Burton. He did not receive screen credit for the
houses. Perhaps latter.
this is where Dale
Wasserman’s interest in theatre and film began. In 1962, Ken Kesey published the novel One
He came from a large family. There were Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Kirk Douglas loved
fourteen children in total. Tragically, both his the novel and within a year of its publication, he
parents died before Wasserman reached the hired Dale Wasserman to write a play based on
age of ten. Kesey’s book. The adaptation premiered on
November 13, 1963 at the Cort Theatre on
After completing only one year of formal Broadway, with Kirk Douglas in the role of
schooling at a Los Angeles high school, he Randle P. McMurphy.
dropped out and entered theatre life. He taught
himself lighting design and went on to Because of the enormous success of Man of La
eventually become a director and producer. Mancha and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,
Wasserman has become one of the most often
Wasserman soon realized that "everything on a produced playwrights in the world.
stage was subservient to the text" and that is
when he decided to focus his efforts on writing. It is uncertain as to how many awards
His first play Elisha and the Long Knives was Wasserman has received for his film and theatre
awarded an Emmy for being the top TV play of works as he rarely showed up at the awards
the year. During the fifties, he was one of the ceremonies
busiest and most prolific of TV script writers.
On the 21st of December, 2008, Dale Wasserman
died at the age of 94 in Phoenix, Arizon
Dale Wasserman on the writing of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
“But in order to write this play I need to know much more about asylums, treatments, and the so‐called
insane. My research covers six institutions, starting with a posh mental clinic in New York where I watch
sixty electroshock treatments in one morning and encounter two other writers among the patients. Then
down, down the scale to the abysmal cellar of Milledgeville, Georgia, a classic snake pit where the
patients spend their days chained to radiators. Climactically, still unsatisfied that I know my subject well
enough, I arrange with the head psychiatrist of an Eastern institution to have myself committed as a
patient for a period of two weeks. (Of that, perhaps I'll write at another time.) I can only say that there's
no urge to escape an asylum; to the contrary, it's comfortable, it is seductive to abandon volition and to
live unstressed at no price other than merely obeying the rules.”
from “Hatching The Cuckoo’s Nest" By Dale Wasserman.
The Dramatist, Sept/Oct 2001
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ABOUT THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR: KEN KESEY
Kenneth Elton Kesey was born in La Junta,
Colorado on September 17th, 1935.
Throughout his high school and college years, he
was a champion wrestler and almost earned a
spot on the U.S. Olympic wrestling team.
Before the publication of One Flew over the
Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey completed two
unpublished novels: End of Autumn and Zoo.
In 1959, during his studies at Stanford
University, Kesey became a paid volunteer in a
CIA financed project (Project MKULTRA) which
studied the effects of hallucinogenic drugs such
as LSD and mescaline. While participating in the
project, Kesey interviewed patients at the eventually arrested for possession of marijuana
Menlo Park Veteran’s Hospital and eventually in 1965 and served a five month jail sentence ‐
formed the opinion that they had become after faking his own suicide in attempt to avoid
vicitims of society – pushed out because of their charges. After this experience, he gave up his
lack of conformity. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s drug habit and eventually continued his writing
Nest was inspired by, and written during this career. None of his later books were as
time. commercially successful as One Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest.
In addition to his writing, Kesey became a
notable counter‐culture figure for his Kesey’s exploits as a Merry Prankster were
involvement with the “Merry Pranksters.” chronicled in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool‐Aid
Acid Test (1968) and noted in poems by beat
The Pranksters were a group of people who poet Allan Ginsberg.
travelled the country in a psychedelic bus
creating performances that promoted the use of Ken Kesey died on November 10th, 2001 at the
hallucinogenic drugs and confronted societal age of 66.
rules of convention and conformity. He was
Ken Kesey on the need for mystery:
"The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery.
If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking.
I've never seen anybody really find the answer—
they think they have, so they stop thinking.
But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery,
plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom.
The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer."
‐ Ken Kesey "The Art of Fiction" ‐ interview by Robert Faggen, The Paris Review No.
130 (Spring 1994)
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INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE NOVEL, PLAY AND FILM OF ONE
FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST
Kesey’s experiences while volunteering in the The film version of the novel was produced by
CIA funded project to study the effects of Douglas’s son Michael and directed by Milos
psychedelic drugs in Palo Alto, California served Forman. It starred Jack Nicholson. The film is
as the basis for his 1962 novel. one of the very few films to sweep all five of the
most important Academy Awards. It won Best
A year after the publication of the novel, Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director
Hollywood actor, Kirk Douglas recruited Dale and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Wasserman to write a stage adaptation of One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Kesey was not at all pleased with the direction
of the film and he claimed that he had never
The stage play premiered at the Cort Theatre on seen it. He was especially disappointed that it
Broadway on November13th, 1963. It closed did not have the character of Chief Bromden
after 82 performances. serve as the narrator as he was in both the
novel and play.
Kirk Douglas bought the film rights to the novel
and fully intended to star in it. However this was Interestingly enough, Kesey also disagreed with
not to be. The film was not made till 1975 and the casting of Jack Nicholson as McMurphy.
by that time, Douglas was too old to play the Kesey believed that the role should have been
lead. played by Gene Hackman.
The play was revived in 1971 and it was a A second revival of the play appeared on
sensational success. It starred William Devane Broadway in 2001. It featured Gary Sinise in the
and it ran for an incredible 2,000 performances. lead role. It won two Tony Awards. The play
It was the success of this revival that got later appeared in London in 2004. This
Hollywood interested in turning the story into a production featured Christian Slater.
major film in 1975.
Kirk Douglas talking about how the play based on Kesey’s novel came about:
“When I first read One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, I fell in love with the book.
Immediately, I bought the rights to it for a movie. And then I went to Oregon and met Ken Kesey. He was
a husky, strong‐looking individual, and we sized one another up. We had one thing in common – we had
both been undefeated wrestlers in college. I don’t know how I would have handled Ken on the mat. It
would have been tough. He was noncommittal as I heaped on praise for his book One Flew Over The
Cuckoo’s Nest…
Our first attempts to make a movie of his book met with no success. I decided to
transform the book into a play and produce it on Broadway. I hired Dale Wasserman to write the play, and
assembled a good cast including William Daniels and Gene Wilder. I played the lead of McMurphy.”
‐ Kirk Douglas in Entertainment Weekly
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WHERE DID THE TITLE OF THE NOVEL AND PLAY COME FROM?
The title of Kesey’s novel and Wasserman’s play comes from a Mother Goose
nursery rhyme:
Vintery, Mintery, Cutery, Corn
Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn,
Apple seed and apple thorn;
Wire, briar, limber lock,
Three geese in a flock.
One flew east,
And one flew west,
And one flew over the cuckoo's nest.
SETTING OF THE PLAY
Time The 1960s
Place “The day room in a ward of a State Mental Hospital somewhere in the Pacific
Northwest. A spacious, clean‐lined expanse, impersonal and rather sterile.”
Scale model of the set design for the 2010 MTC/TC production by Allan Stichbury.
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WHO’S WHO IN THE PLAY
(The descriptions below in quotation marks come from Dale unsuccessful lobotomy. He spends much of his
Wasserman’s character descriptions in the script.)
time standing, as if crucified, against a wall and
uttering the occasional profanity.
The Patients
Randle Patrick McMurphy is 35 years old. A
Chief Bromden is a “huge, bull‐muscled Indian boisterous, self‐centered and self‐confident
who stands six and a half feet but when people man. He loves to gamble and con people. His
are about carries himself like a small man.” He self‐assured attitude and manic behaviour puts
has been diagnosed as being schizophrenic. The him a sharp conflict with Nurse Ratched.
staff also believe that he is deaf and dumb.
Much of the action in the story is seen through
The Staff
his eyes.
Warren and Williams are aides who work on the
Dale Harding is “in his late thirties, handsome,
ward. They unquestioningly follow Nurse
effete.” An intelligent but nervous man. He is
Ratched's orders.
the most educated patient in the institute. His
problems stem from his feelings of sexual
Dr. Spivey is the head psychiatrist in the ward
inadequacy brought about by his dominating
He is easily manipulated by McMurphy and
wife.
Nurse Ratched.
Billy Bibbit is “In age, almost thirty, but appears
Nurse Ratched (also known as the Big Nurse) is
more like a boy.” He suffers from insecurity, a
a “handsome woman, her age hard to tell. There
strong guilt complex and he continues to be
is an odd perfection about her.” She is the
totally controlled by his mother. Billy also has a
ultimate authority in the ward. She has a serene
stuttering problem.
confidence and asserts her absolute control
through intimidation and manipulation.
Scanlon is “in his fifties.” He is obsessively
preoccupied with the imaginary construction of
Nurse Flinn is a “vapid girl with apprehensive
bombs that he wants to use “to blow up the
eyes.” She is young and eager.
whole stinkin’ world.”
Mr. Turkle is the “aging night man” on the ward.
Charles Cheswick is “short, chubby, crew‐cut;
He has a weakness for alcohol and marijuana.
his manner alternately truculent and cringing.”
He too is easily manipulated by McMurphy.
He is one of McMurphy’s first supporters in the
ward. He is constantly asking for changes in
ward policies but lacks the courage to act.
Others
Martini is “a little Italian … eager and bright‐ Candy Starr is a fun loving prostitute and a
eyed.” He suffers from frequent hallucinations. longtime friend of McMurphy. “She is a dish.”
Ruckly is “blank‐faced and empty‐eyed.” He is a Sandra is also a prostitute and friend of
victim of electro‐shock therapy and an McMurphy.
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SUMMARY OF THE PLAY
The curtain rises on a large, sterile ward in a of independence. McMurphy decides that he
mental asylum which is kept under control by will make men out of the complacent “boys.”
the icy rule of Nurse Ratched. The patients are Soon, much to the dismay of Nurse Ratched, the
kept in line through the use of tranquilizing patients are resisting her authority and are
drugs and the threat of electroconvulsive verging on rebellion.
therapy and worse. When Randle P. McMurphy,
an uncontrolled brash, self‐confident, fighter, McMurphy is threatened with electroconvulsive
gambler, lover and self‐confessed psychopath therapy if he does not conform to Ratched’s
bursts into the ward, Nurse Ratched’s expectations. Predictably, McMurphy is unable
unchallenged rule is put into question. To avoid to give in to the Big Nurse’s authority and the
hard jail time at a prison farm, McMurphy has threat becomes a reality.
pretended to be crazy. Ironically, he soon finds
that this mental asylum is far more harsh and Not content with merely inflicting humiliation
oppressive than his previous prison ever was. and pain on McMurphy, Nurse Ratched
manipulates events to show McMurphy who is
At first, McMurphy’s attitude and defiance in ultimate control and to ensure that all the
towards Ratched and her rules serve as a source patients learn a lesson about the consequences
of humour and sport. However the ward’s of defiant behaviour such as McMurphy’s.
dynamics quickly change to a no‐holds‐barred
conflict between McMurphy’s irrepressible Much of the story is witnessed through the eyes
desire to express his free will and Nurse of Chief Bromden and in the end, it is he who
Ratched’s uncompromising commitment to finds a way to free McMurphy (and himself)
maintain her control and authority. from Nurse Ratched.
Prior to McMurphy’s arrival, the patients had
given up and given in to Nurse Ratched’s
authority. They tolerate her arbitrary rules and
have abandoned any desire to exercise any form
Costume Design Sketch for R.P. McMurphy for the Costume Design Sketch for Candy Starr and Sandra
Theatre Calgary/MTC Production, 2010. for the Theatre Calgary/MTC Production, 2010.
Sketch and Original Designs by Gillian Gallow. Sketch and Original Designs by Gillian Gallow.
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WHAT CATEGORY OF PLAY IS ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S
NEST?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest contains
aspects found in a number of different theatrical Comedy of Menace – Plays which fit this genre
and literary genres. These genres include: are humorous in places but the humour is
mingled with plot elements that are unsettling
Tragedy – serious works in which the and disturbing. Audiences at such plays often
protagonists suffer a tragic end, or loss as a find it difficult to know how to respond in that
result of a character defect or unwise decision. the dramatized situations are funny and
unsettling at the same time.
Morality Play – a form of entertainment which
first became popular during the Middle Ages. Realism – realistic drama involving everyday
Many modern plays are also considered morality people dealing with significant social and
plays if their plots involve straightforward political issues of the day
characters and if their purpose is to teach lessons
in morality.
DID YOU KNOW? ‐ A GLOSSARY OF ALLUSIONS AND
VOCABULARY
The following information provides background, During McMurphy’s first group therapy session,
definition or explanation of specific references in the resident psychiatrist Dr. Spivey explains that
the play that you may not be familiar with. The what they have at the institute is a Therapeutic
references are presented in the order in which Community. This is a reference to a patient‐
they are mentioned in the play. For your driven, group‐based treatment approach
convenience, some relevant websites are developed by Maxwell Jones, a British
hyperlinked. psychiatrist. He believed that institutional
patients should have a say in their own and each
Act I other’s treatment, as well as in creating policies
and procedures. It is clear in the play, however,
All of the action in the play occurs in a day room that Nurse Ratched’s ward is far from
of a mental asylum. Some of the patients are democratic.
referred to as being acute. While the nature of
illness and symptoms are often severe (usually Dr. Spivey also suggests
depressive or schizophrenic), such patients are that for patients to help
considered treatable. themselves they need
to probe the secrets of
Others in the ward are classified as being the subconscious. Dr.
chronic. These patients are incurable and need Sigmund Freud (1856 –
life‐long care. Many of the “chronics” are in a 1939), considered to be
vegetative, or severely mentally altered state. Sigmund Freud
the father of modern
psychiatry, believed
When McMurphy first enters the ward, he that the roots and causes of many mental
wants to know who the bull goose loony is. A disorders are buried deep in a level of the mind
bull goose is the dominant goose in a gaggle. below conscious thought. Among many other
This is McMurphy’s way of asking the patients subconscious thoughts and motivations, he
which loony is in charge. believed that the cause of many personality
disorders often has something to do with sex.
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During the same group therapy session, upon passivity or abnormal movement and behaviour
talk of Harding’s young attractive wife, Martini often involving repetitive purposeless activity.
(who is prone to frequent vivid hallucinations) They also do not show much response to stimuli
exclaims. “Mamma mia! Una poppona! La from the outside world.
figura d’una dea! Mi fa allungare!” This is
Italian for: “Oh Mama! What a babe! The body When Electro‐Shock Therapy is not effective in
of a goddess! She gets me so excited!” controlling McMurphy’s behaviour, Nurse
Ratched suggests that they consider the more
At the end of McMurphy’s first group therapy drastic measure of performing a lobotomy.
session, Harding accuses McMurphy of During this irreversible surgical procedure, a
simplifying the work of Freud, Jung and surgeon severs the nerve connection between
Maxwell Jones. the frontal lobes of the brain. Patients who
undergo this procedure are often calmer and
Carl Jung (1875 – 1961) lose their violent tendencies. Unfortunately,
was a disciple of Freud’s. some also enter a vegetative state. During 1950s Franz Kafka
He is best known for his and early 1960s some institutional facilities
extensive work on dream established assembly lines so that surgeons
analysis and symbolism. could operate on several patients at the same
time, treating cases of schizophrenia,
Carl Jung
Maxwell Jones introduced depression, anxiety disorders and cases of
the notion that mental “defiant behaviour” including homosexuality.
asylums should take the Between 1939 and 1951, over 18,000
form of therapeutic communities. Therapy was lobotomies were performed in the United
a continuous process that occurred all day and States, with many thousands more performed in
in a group setting. Jones also believed that other countries.
patients should have a say in the development
of the policies and procedures in the ward. When McMurphy’s
two lady friends
McMurphy cannot understand why the patients break into the ward
take Ratched’s abuse. When he suggests that for a party, Harding
they raise hell, Harding warns that the assures them that
consequence of such rebellion is Electro‐Shock Rorschach Ink Blot they are indeed
Therapy which he sarcastically describes as a completely crazy. He
“device that combines the best features of the even jokingly offers to decipher a Rorschach for
sleeping pill, the electric chair and the torture Sandra. This is a reference to the Rorschach Test
rack.” Electro‐Shock Therapy or which was developed by Swiss psychiatrist,
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), is a Hermann Rorschach in 1922. The persons being
controversial medical treatment for mental tested are shown a series of ink blots and are
illness (often depression, schizophrenia and asked to describe what they see. Their
bipolar disorders) in which an electrical current responses are believed to reveal important
is introduced into the brain to induce mild information regarding their personality,
seizures. The procedure is still practiced today, intelligence and emotional states. For a look at
however it became less frequently prescribed as the ten different ink blots used in this test and
treatment with the introduction of antipsychotic their interpretations check out this Wikipedia
drugs in the 1950s. article.
Act II During the drunken party in the ward organized
by McMurphy, Sandra cannot believe what is
When Nurse Ratched discovers that Chief happening. The very knowledgeable Harding
Bromden is not catatonic, she becomes very reassures her by claiming that the “whole thing
upset that she had been fooled for so long. A is a collaboration between Franz Kafka and
catatonic state is one in which a person (in Mark Twain.” An interesting collaboration, to
clinical terms, often schizophrenic), displays say the least.
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Franz Kafka (1883 ‐1924) Not many people know that American novelist
created some of the and humorist, Mark Twain (1835 ‐1910), best
strangest and most known for his Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
troubling works of fiction. books, was an inveterate cynic. He was a bitter
His view of the world was satirist who often poked merciless fun at our
that it is oftentimes most cherished institutions.
Franz Kafka inexplicable. In his novel
Franz Kafka Metamorphosis, the At the end of the fake wedding ceremony for
protagonist awakens one Billy and Sandra, Harding leads in a prayer which
morning and discovers that he has changed into foreshadows that there will be consequences
a very large bug. In his novel, The Trial, the for their riotous behaviour: “As comes the
protagonist is arrested and put on trial but he is dawn, we shall most assuredly be lined up
never told what he is being charged with. against the wall and fired upon with bullets of
Miltown! Librium! Thorazine!” The first two are
Because of his work, the term Kafkaesque has sedatives often used to treat anxiety symptoms.
entered into our vocabulary. It refers to a work Thorazine is an anti‐psychotic medication.
or a situation that is marked by a “senseless,
disorienting, and often menacing complexity.”
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VOCABULARY IMPROVEMENT
To better appreciate the dialogue during the performance, you may find it helpful and
entertaining if you became more familiar with the more difficult words in the play by spending
some time with the following activity.
Match the words from the play in Column A with their appropriate definitions in Column B.
If you are having trouble with any of the words, help is available online at
http://www.onelook.com/
Check your answers here Vocabulary Quiz Answer Key (page 21).
Column A Column B
1. vapid __ a. one who displays criminal, aggressive, or perverted behavior
2. effete __ b. monotonous difficult work
3. truculent __ c. medical science that deals with issues relating to the elderly
4. therapeutic __ d. determine one's relative position
5. pinochle __ e. boldness, daring
6. psychopath __ f. annulled; taken away
7. libido __ g. one who is overly interested in oneself and not in others
8. defunct __ h. faking
9. orient __ i. festivities; partying
10. zealous __ j. generous and kind; producing good
11. feigning __ k. unhealthy preoccupation on someone or something
12. drudgery __ l. defiant; hostile
13. protocol __ m. person in charge of a gambling table
14. ardent __ n. bathroom
15. fixation __ o. intensely emotional or eager
16. weaned __ p. extremely enthusiastic
17. egomaniac __ q. stare open mouthedly
18. benevolent __ r. no longer of use
19. geriatrics __ s. established way of doing things
20. gape __ t. card game which resembles whist
21. lucid __ u. restoring to health
22. latrine __ v. aspect of the mind which deals with love or sexual desires
23. audacity __ w. lacking in liveliness or spirit
24. rescinded __ x. made independent of
25. croupier __ y. over‐refined; self‐indulgent
26. tincture __ z. clear‐minded
27. revels __ aa. trace or tint
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II. WHILE THE CURTAIN IS UP – Questions to Consider
PLOT
• In the novel from which this play adapted, Chief Bromden serves as the narrator of the
action. Ken Kesey, the author of the novel, was extremely upset with the feature film
version of his book because the story was not told through Chief Bromden’s point of view.
In what ways did the playwright and the stage director make it clear that the action of the
play is intended to be seen through Bromden’s eyes?
• The climax of a story can be either the point of highest dramatic tension or the turning point
for the protagonist(s).
Does the play have a true climax?
If so, when does the climax of the play occur?
Does it mark the highest point of dramatic tension or is it the turning point for the
protagonist in the play? Explain.
• Generally speaking, the final scene of a play needs to be carefully crafted for maximum
effect. Playwrights would want to accomplish a number of purposes with the endings of
their works.
With a partner, generate a list of at least three things that you think the ending of a play,
generally speaking, should accomplish.
After watching the performance, consider the extent to which the ending of One Flew Over
the Cuckoo’s Nest succeeded in accomplishing the three things in your list.
CHARACTER
• A protagonist is defined as the major character in a work. One important characteristic of a
protagonist is that he or she undergoes a significant character change.
Based on the above definitions, who, in your opinion, is the protagonist in the play?
Justify your opinion.
• Contrast is an effective tool for characterization. Identify the ways in which contrast is
developed between one of the following pairs of characters:
Dr. Spivey and Nurse Ratched
Nurse Ratched and McMurphy
How did this production emphasize the contrast in their characters?
- 14 -
• Create a brief character sketch of McMurphy, Nurse Ratched or Billie.
Be sure to identify important character traits, values, beliefs, attitudes, dominant emotions,
strengths, weaknesses, etc.
SETTING & MOOD
• This play is a challenge to set designers in that there is only one set. To expect audiences to
look at the same set for the entire duration of a performance, the set must be interesting
and multi‐functional.
What were your first impressions of the set?
What did the set design and props contribute to the overall effect of the play?
How did the director utilize the set to make it multi‐functional?
• Identify when and how sound, music and lighting effects were used effectively during the
performance.
In other words, what specific moods, atmosphere or effects did the use of sound, music and
lighting help to create at various times in the performance?
• One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is set in the 1960s in a mental institution in Oregon.
What would be lost or gained if the play were staged in modern day costumes and in a
present day Manitoba setting?
THEME
• One of the more important themes in this play deals with the need to question and resist
people and systems that threaten freedom and the human spirit.
What does the action in the play and the choices made by the major characters suggest
about this important theme?
• To identify the themes or main ideas of a work, it is often helpful to consider if the major
characters have undergone any significant character change or if they have come to some
new significant realization about people or life.
In what ways do the major characters change during the process of the play?
What do these changes tell us about what the author is trying to say about people and
about life?
• What did you think of the title of the play?
In what ways is the title an appropriate one?
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Create two alternate and appropriate titles for this play.
• Another important theme of the play deals with the idea that sometimes, people have to
take drastic measures for the sake of their own sense of identity and peace of mind. Chief
Bromden is well aware of this idea.
Create three statements that Chief Bromden would agree with by the end of the play in
regards to what people sometimes have to do to be true to their sense of self and to ensure
their own peace of mind.
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III. AFTER THE CURTAIN FALLS – Post‐Performance
Student Activities
REFLECT ON PRE‐PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES
What pre‐performance information and activities best prepared you for the play?
What else could you have done or wished you had done to have better prepared you for your
viewing of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?
CAST A FEATURE FILM VERSION OF THE PLAY
Assume that another feature film version of the story is being made and that you have been
given the job of finding a cast for it.
What well known actors would you choose to play the roles of the major characters?
To justify your casting choices, you should refer to other similar roles handled by each of the
actors.
Which, if any, of the actors used in the Manitoba Theatre Centre production would you cast in
your movie? Why?
CREATE AN ACT THREE FOR THE PLAY
Assume that some time has passed since the events related at the end of the play.
What do you think has happened to the major characters?
Create a scene in which you dramatize what you think occurs two years after the events of the
play to any or all of the following characters:
Nurse Ratched
Chief Bromden
Harding
Candy Starr
Nurse Flinn
Feel free to create new characters for the main characters to interact with.
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WRITE A DIFFERENT ENDING FOR THE PLAY
How satisfied were you with how the play ended?
Assume that you have been given the task of creating an alternate ending for the play.
Write a new scene that serves to take the ending in a direction that you are happier with or that
you find more interesting or dramatic.
WRITE A REVIEW
Write a review of the performance of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest that you have just seen.
Read several newspaper or magazine reviews to get a better idea of the style and structure of
typical drama reviews.
A good central source for reviews can be found at:
http://www.curtainup.com/goingall.html
Make sure that you do not follow any one review too closely.
Your review should reflect your personal take and evaluation of the performance.
WRITE A LETTER TO THE DIRECTOR
Write a letter to the director commenting on what you enjoyed or did not enjoy about the
production.
Focus on how elements such as casting choices, use of lighting, sound and music, costuming and
acting contributed to your enjoyment of the production.
REFLECTIVE WRITING ON THE THEATRE EXPERIENCE
Consider the reasons why so many people prefer attending a live sporting event such as a
football or a hockey game over watching the same event on TV.
Now consider the ways in which attending a live theatre performance could be preferable to
watching a feature film on the big screen or a DVD or video at home.
What did you enjoy most about being part of the audience attending the Manitoba Theatre
Centre and seeing One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest?
Based on this experience, are you looking forward to attending another play in the near future?
Explain.
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REPRESENTING CHARACTER, CONFLICT AND THEME
Create a poster by finding (or creating) a series of graphics, photos or illustrations, and words
that you think serve, in significant ways, to illustrate or bring to life the characters, the
situations, the themes or messages of the play.
Complete your representation on poster paper.
On the back side of the poster, briefly explain why you chose the graphics you did. In other
words, what does each of your visuals represent?
Please note that the explanation of the graphics on the back of your poster is not an essay or a
formal piece of writing.
MATCHING QUIZ
Try the matching quiz on the following page. In Column A, there are a number of memorable
quotations spoken during the play. Match the quotation with the correct character who spoke it
from the following list:
Billy McMurphy
Dr. Spivey Nurse Ratched
Chief Bromden Sandra
Harding Turkle
Martini
Characters may be used more than once. Check your answers here Matching Quiz Answer Key
(page 22).
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Column A Characters
1. You think I’m ravin’ ‘cause it sounds too awful to be true, but my
God, there’s such a lot of things that’s true even if they never really
happen!
2. Buddy, you are so wrong, I don’t have to do this, and I don’t have to
do that, and get the hell away from me or I will take and …
3. But you must realize that our policies are engineered for your care.
Which means cooperation.
4. It was on account of my mother. Every time she comes to visit it
leaves me feeling just awful.
5. Mama Mia! Una poppona! La figura d’una dea! Ma fa allungare!
6. HOME RUN!
7. How can I be big if you ain’t? How can anybody?
8. Anointest my head with conductant! Do I get a crown of thorns?
9. I do not approve surgical procedure in the absence of recurring
violence.
10. Tha’ better be good liquor.
11. Jeez what a blast! Is this really happening?
12. I hope you’re satisfied. Playing with human lives. Gambling with
human lives as though you were God.
13. Okay, Chief, go. You’re going to make it out there.
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IV. ANSWER KEYS
VOCABULARY EXERCISE ANSWERS
Column A Column B
1. vapid w. lacking in liveliness or spirit
2. effete y. over‐refined; self‐indulgent
3. truculent l. defiant; hostile
4. therapeutic u. restoring to health
5. pinochle t. card game which resembles whist
6. psychopath a. one who displays criminal, aggressive, or perverted behavior
7. libido v. aspect of the mind which deals with love or sexual desires
8. defunct r. no longer of use
9. orient d. determine one's relative position
10. zealous p. extremely enthusiastic
11. feigning h. faking
12. drudgery b. monotonous difficult work
13. protocol s. established way of doing things
14. ardent o. intensely emotional or eager
15. fixation k. unhealthy preoccupation on someone or something
16. weaned x. made independent of
17. egomaniac g. one who is overly interested in oneself and not in others
18. benevolent j. generous and kind; producing good
19. geriatrics c. medical science that deals with issues relating to the elderly
20. gape q. stare open mouthedly
21. lucid z. clear‐minded
22. latrine n. bathroom
23. audacity e. boldness, daring
24. rescinded f. annulled; taken away
25. croupier m. person in charge of a gambling table
26. tincture aa. trace or tint
27. revels i. festivities; partying
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MATCHING QUIZ ANSWERS
Column A Characters
2. You think I’m ravin’ ‘cause it sounds too awful to be true, but my
God, there’s such a lot of things that’s true even if they never really Chief Bromden
happen!
2. Buddy, you are so wrong, I don’t have to do this, and I don’t have to
McMurphy
do that, and get the hell away from me or I will take and …
3. But you must realize that our policies are engineered for your care.
Which means cooperation. Nurse Ratched
4. It was on account of my mother. Every time she comes to visit it Billy
leaves me feeling just awful.
5. Mama Mia! Una poppona! La figura d’una dea! Ma fa allungare! Martini
6. HOME RUN! Harding
7. How can I be big if you ain’t? How can anybody? Chief Bromden
8. Anointest my head with conductant! Do I get a crown of thorns? McMurphy
9. I do not approve surgical procedure in the absence of recurring Dr. Spivey
violence.
10. Tha’ better be good liquor. Turkle
11. Jeez what a blast! Is this really happening? Sandra
12. I hope you’re satisfied. Playing with human lives. Gambling with Nurse Ratched
human lives as though you were God.
13. Okay, Chief, go. You’re going to make it out there. Harding
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