Theatre
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Manoel Theatre

Human cruelty is a worse form of insanity than any mental health issue or disorder that many suffer from in silence.

The ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality of institutionalising patients suffering from some form of psychiatric issue, especially in the past, meant that treating those described as “insane” was a spectator sport in the 19th century and a speculative, experimental science with licence to forceful submission in much of the 20th century.

Dale Wasserman’s stage adaptation of Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, remains as effective and relevant in contemporary times as it did when it was first presented to audiences just over 50 years ago. Masquerade’s current production of the play at the Manoel Theatre certainly does Kesey’s intention justice.

With a fittingly stark and clinical set, Aldo Moretti created the right backdrop for Stephen Oliver’s cogent direction and lighting design.

Randle P. McMurphy (Alan Paris) is a clever criminal who wants to play the system and ends up in a psychiatric ward after pleading insanity at his trial.

Paris was a splendid McMurphy – as irreverent and anarchic as he could be. It is a pleasure to see him take on challenging roles and mastering them so effortlessly. His McMurphy was convincing enough to draw the other characters in and give them the hope they so desperately needed in the prison house of their mind.

Of the secondary characters, Michael Mangion’s Scanlon, Dominic Said’s Cheswick and Renato Dimech’s Martini added the right shade of levity to the plot’s darker implications. The three characters complemented the ribaldry of McMurphy’s persistent disobedient exploits to push Nurse Ratched (Alexandra Camilleri Warne) over the edge.

McMurphy’s constant encouragement made a physically large man like Chief Bromden (Joe Depasquale) feel ‘big’ again – finding his lost self-confidence and the courage to push himself to believe that he was more than a cowering medicated patient at the mercy of aides Warren (Gianni Selvaggi) and Williams (Rambert Attard). Depasquale gave his Bromden the gravitas and dignity that he required and came across as a very effective character interpretation.

Kristina Frendo, Rambert Attard and Andre Agius in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

The same can be said for Victor Debono’s Dale Harding, president of the patients’ association, whose obsessively fastidious character and deep psycho-sexual anxiety made his role a particularly complex one. It was certainly a credit to Debono’s ability to take on such a challenge with such positive results.

The patients are dominated and subtly, psychologically bullied by Camilleri Warne’s Nurse Ratched – who came across as steely and unnervingly calm in her domination of the men on her ward. This is no ministering angel but a “bitch” as the patients themselves put it. Her delivery as a cold, calculating and falsely invested caregiver, was evident in her treatment of Billy Bibbit (Andre Agius).

She was clearly the one in control of every movement on the ward – from Kristina Frendo’s timid Nurse Flinn to the manipulative way in which she guilts Billy into submission and her efficient dispatching of Candy Starr (Rebecca Camilleri) and Sandra Gilfillian (Emma Micallef) – McMurphy’s two loose friends who sneak in to party with the patients in the dead of night and who, on the encouragement of McMurphy, lead Billy to achieve a goal of his.

Agius shone as Billy – the stuttering, painfully shy young man in awe of his mother. His spiral into depression was dealt with very sensitively and convincingly.

This escapade would not have been possible without Colin Willis’s cameo role as Aide Turkle – a welcome return for a veteran actor.

The defiance and anarchic spirit of rebellion with which McMurphy fills his fellow inmates leads the chief to realise that which none of them had ever achieved: a genuine self-awareness and reconciliation which leads to his psychological and literal freedom from the shackles of institutionalisation. In a parallel manner, he helps McMurphy achieve a dignified freedom following his forced lobotomy by a vindictive Nurse Ratched.

Masquerade has achieved a great performance of a thought-provoking piece of classic theatre which educates and entertains in equal measures.

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is being staged at the Manoel Theatre on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8pm.