Irving Community Theatre's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest arrived in the metroplex 18 months after the play received a Tony award winning revival on Broadway. Oscar nominee Gary Sinise played the leading role on Broadway and at Steppenwolf where the production originated.

Cuckoo's Nest takes place in a state mental hospital in the Pacific Northwest in 1963. There is a diverse mixture of patients in this mental institution, all of them controlled by Nurse Ratched, not just physically, but mentally as well. A new patient is added to the ward, Randle Patrick McMurphy, a man who loves booze, gambling, and women, but not authority. From there we see how this new patient changes the lives of both the patients and the hospital staff forever.

Director Robyne Gulledge has assembled, for the most part, a strong and dependable cast. She has a unique set to work on which was designed by Scott Kirkham. The set is blinding white, right down to the tiles on the floor which are placed in precision starting upstage, but as they come down to the lip of the stage, the tiles are placed in disorganized, uneven, and scattered formations, such as the lives of the patients who walk on them. Paint is splattered on the walls in colors of dark brown, yellow, and dark mustard. To me this resembles feces and urine thrown onto the walls by the mentally deranged patients, which adds a sick layer of their desire to not be in the hospital at all. Compliments must be paid to Mike Garner's rich layer of light design and the very effective sound design elements of Sue Birch. Both designers have added subtext and visual enhancement to the emotions explored on Mr. Kirkham's realistic set.

Gulledge's direction is quite strong and brings stirring and realistic performances from her company. For the most part the blocking is quite effective, although I did notice that the cast would often stand in a straight line; staying on different levels would continue the pattern of disorganized life. Gulledge doesn't allow the actors to become over the top or showy in their performances, she keeps them grounded. The pace for the first couple of scenes is slow and sluggish with major pauses between lines that just feel way too lumbering. The first act lacks spark and has sporadic points of interest; it needs to really push the exposition out faster and not take so look long to get to its first apex of conflict.

The cast is a mixture of believable performances, but a couple of the actors are too wooden and don't push forth the realism that the others provide. Rick F. Espaillat heads the company as Randle McMurphy, a role that earned Nicholson an Oscar for the film and Sinise a Tony nomination for the recent revival. Espaillat is perfectly cast as the southern vagabond whose only concern is to just serve his five month sentence in this hospital of loonies. Espaillat is blessed with a powerful speaking voice that requires no body mike whatsoever. He has a strong stage presence and high energy that adds solid layers to his performance. The layer of cheerful disposition and carefree attitude that Espaillat portrays gives his character's horrific act two arc perfect balance. But his non-verbal acting is as strong as the rest of his work; his emotional breakdown in act two is deeply moving to watch. He is truly marvelous in the role.

Nancy Baum as the female version of Darth Vader - if he were a female nurse - gives a dark and astonishing performance as Nurse Ratched. Baum's Ratched speaks in a motherly tone, but with an underlying veil of cold, evil ice-bitch queen who rules her "kingdom" her way, period! Baum is rigid, strong, and provides a perfect acting partner to Espaillat's Randle. Her sharp commitment to the character and stage presence contribute to what is a brava performance.

Dave Schmidt as Dale Harding has superb diction and an air of "holier than thou" that gives his character great subtext. Schmidt's character has oddly enough checked himself into the mental institution, no court ordered him to do this. Harding is also the president of the patients council, and Schmidt gives the character a slight dose of authority figure, only to crumble when Ratched demands answers from him. Schmidt has the professional acting tools to give his character and performance honest life and commitment.

Anthony Askew as the stuttering virgin Billy Bibbit has one of the most difficult roles of the evening. The role could easily make an actor slide into "hammy/TV movie of the week" acting. It's a difficult challenge for any actor to play someone with a speech problem with honesty and realism. But Askew steers completely away from stereotyped acting and delivers a beautifully honest and deeply moving performance as the young man who has not only been whipped to death emotionally by his mother, but also by his "other" mother, Nurse Ratched. Askew's non-verbal acting is just wonderful to watch. He may be in the background in various scenes, but he stays in total focus and character, reacting to the scene in front of him and making the audience care for Billy even more.

John Paul Landry as Martini has very little dialogue, but is simply exceptional in his total commitment to the role. The character is a man who is hyper, but has the mentality of a child, always smiling, giggling, with a constant eye twitch. Landry stays focused in Martini's body and non-verbal communication, from clutching his robe to petting his shoe. Landry is another actor who never drops out of character and stays totally focused. He may have only a few lines, but he gives one of the best performances of the evening.

Finally, there is Michael Self as Chief Bromden. This character is stuck with inner monologues that are delivered on tape as though we are "hearing" his thoughts. It is almost the end of act one before sense can be made of the monologues. Self is a tall Caucasian actor who is bathed in body makeup to give him light caramel skin. During the final scenes of act one Self begins to give the role such life and aching pain that it flows into his work in act two. Self is another actor who has a role that has a very complicated arc and has to swim in very dark pools of human emotion, and he delivers with resounding success.

Also giving affecting performances are Elizabeth Henry as Espaillat's trampy girlfriend Candy Starr, Gary Payne as the wimpy doctor who quickly gives into Ratched's suggestions and authority, and Jim Harmuth as Ruckly, another actor who has no dialogue, but stays completely committed to his role which is that of a Christ-like figure who is completely mentally dead.

Also I must commend Adrienne Maynard as Nurse Flinn. She is delightful as the Catholic nurse who is frightened by the patients, as well as by Ratched. Brava to an actress who takes a minor role and gives a performance that is equal to that of the principals.

While the pace needs to be stronger in act one and some of the performances don't match the level of others, this is a production that is packed with some of the best acting currently being presented to metroplex audiences.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest closed Nov 17.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
by Dale Wasserman
Irving Community Theatre
Director: Robyne Gulledge
Producers: Evelyn G. Hall, Tom Ortiz
Costume Designer: Binnie Tomaro
Lighting Designer: Mike Garner
Set Designer: Scott Kirkham
Sound Designer: Sue Birch

CAST

Chief Bromden: Michael Self
Aide Warren: Phillip Davis
Aide Williams: Paris L. Ray
Nurse Ratched: Nancy Baum
Nurse Flinn: Adrienne Maynard
Dale Harding: Dave Schmidt
Billy Bibbit: Anthony Askew
Scanlon: Rudy Seppy
Cheswick: Scott Mcdowell
Martini: John Paul Landry
Ruckly: Jim Harmuth
Randle Patrick Mcmurphy: Rick F. Espaillat
Dr. Spivey: Gary Payne
Candy Starr: Elizabeth Henry
Sandra: Kimberly A. Hurd

--John Garcia