Fleetwood Community Theater to present ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’

Fleetwood Community Theater is presenting the Spring Show “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey and Dale Wasserman and produced by special arrangement with Samuel French Inc. The show will be held at 5 Arch St., Fleetwood, April 20, 21 at 7:30 p.m. and April 22 at 2:30 p.m.

The 14-member cast is directed by Kenneth Dreistadt, who has been in various other positions with Fleetwood Community Theater. This is his first try at actual directing. The show is produced by Tara Sands who has produced and directed many shows for FCT. The set was designed and built by Micah Wentzel and the cast.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest deals with the relationship between freedom and power, and about how mental illness develops when the power of the Head Nurse Nurse Ratched, played by Jessica Robinson),dominates an individual to such a great extent that he/she can no longer act free. The individuals in the hospital ward; Martini (Chip Lambdin), Ruckley (Micah Wentzel), Harding (Brian Cunningham), Billy (Steve Miller) and Cheswick (Paul Sullivan) are shown to be lacking in courage and self-belief, and demonstrate an unwillingness to act without permission and approval of Nurse Ratched.

While the hospital should be making patients better it actually makes them worse by discouraging attempts of the patients to be assertive and by labeling any attempt to act free from the constraints of institutional power as symptomatic of a worsening of the underlying disorder. The courage seems to come back when Randle P. McMurphy (Joey Lovello) is committed to the ward. He seems to do everything he can to get Nurse Ratched to break down to a normal human being. The Chief, (George Kovarie) an American Indian who has been there for many years, is the story teller of the play. Also appearing are Nurse Flinn (Alex Watkins), Dr. Spivey (Heather Watkins), Aide Warren (Leanne Zettlemoyer) and Aide Williams (Deb Lambdin).