Heidelberg Theatre Company ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST HEIDELBERG THEATRE COMPANY (HTC) BOOKINGS 03 9457 4117 ENQUIRIES 03 9455 3039 EMAIL [email protected] WEB www.htc.org.au HTC is a member of the Victorian Drama League. HTC acknowledges financial assistance from the City of Banyule.
HTC Artspace Artist - Teresa Schipano
Teresa’s paintings are heartfelt, as her inspirations come from the hidden beauty she discovers in Light, Nature, Water and People. She endeavours to express herself by using either oil medium or soft pastel and claims to be in a meditative state as she embraces each painting experience.
Teresa has recently won the 2013 ArchiBawBaw Portrait Prize in the inaugural ArchiBawBaw Exhibition at Mt Baw Baw, and has also been granted a copyright title from the Mary MacKillop Foundation in Sydney for her painting of Australia’s first Saint, ‘St Mary of the Cross’.
Since 2008 Teresa has painted and exhibited with the Nell Street Painters, Greensborough, and her commissioned work has been pivotal in cultivating her strengths and techniques throughout her artistic career.
Our mezzanine display has iconic costumes from the 1960’s including crocheted dress and garment with psychedelic patterns.
To assist those with hearing difficulties, a hearing loop is installed in the theatre – seats 1 to 10 in rows A to F. HTC gratefully acknowledges a City of Banyule grant for this service. presents by arrangement with Origin Theatrical, on behalf of Samuel French Ltd
12 Sep - 28 Sep 2013 About the Play Ken Kesey’s experiences while volunteering in a project to study the effects of psychedelic drugs served as the basis for his first novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962). It was the publica on of this novel that garnered him worldwide fame. A year a er the novel’s publica on Hollywood actor, Kirk Douglas recruited Dale Wasserman to write a stage adapta on. It premiered at the Cort Theatre on Broadway in November 1963 and ran for 82 performances. Kirk Douglas also bought the film rights to the novel, intending to star in it. However this project was delayed; the film was not made ll 1975 and by that me, Douglas was too old to play the lead. Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman refused the leading role; eventually Jack Nicholson was hired to play McMurphy, for a career‐defining portrayal. The play, starring William Devane, was revived in 1971 and it was a great success, running for 2000 performances. It was the success of this revival that encouraged Hollywood to turn the story into a major film in 1975. A second revival of the play appeared on Broadway in 2001. Featuring Gary Sinise in the lead role, this produc on won two Tony Awards. The play later appeared in London in 2004 and featured Chris an Slater. Ken Kesey Ken Kesey (1935‐2001) was an American writer. While studying at Stanford University, Kesey a ended a crea ve wri ng course taught by the novelist Wallace Stegner. At this me, Kesey also took a job at a Veterans’ Administra on hospital in Menlo Park, California where he was paid to take mind‐altering drugs and report on their effects. These experiences as a part‐ me aide at a psychiatric hospital and the LSD experiments led to Kesey having a vision of a Na ve American silently sweeping the hospital floor. This image formed the background for One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Kesey’s next novel, Some mes a Great No on (1964), is now considered Kesey’s undisputed masterpiece but puzzled cri cs when first published. A er its rela vely lukewarm recep on, Kesey gave up publishing novels. Dale Wasserman Dale Wasserman (1914‐2008) wrote for theatre, television and film for more than 50 years and is best known for the musical Man of La Mancha, a mul ple Tony Award winner. His stage play of Kesey’s novel also won several Tony Awards. Both shows con nue to be produced na onally and interna onally with an es mated 300 produc ons a year. About the Director “...consider that One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is about the paradox This is Chris' 6th direc ng gig at HTC a er the of living in a modern democracy of successes of ‘Shirley Valen ne’, ‘The Rise and Fall of only two political parties, a dominant Li le Voice’, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, ‘Cloudstreet’ and theme of modern culture. How can ‘Under Milk Wood’ (4 of those winning in‐house Best you live within a democracy that Produc on awards and ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ expects you to participate, to hold winning the VDL for Best Produc on and Director). an opinion and vote and thereby He has also appeared on stage here many mes with control and be responsible for your Gene Glimmer in ‘Side Man’ (VDL Best Actor in a society—but at the same time, you Drama award) and Oscar Wilde in ‘The Judas Kiss’ (in must surrender and follow the will house Best Actor award) being his favourites. of others if even the slimmest Chris has directed over 50 produc ons, most majority disagrees with you? notably at Williamstown Li le Theatre, including the Australian premiere of ‘33 Varia ons’, To live in a democracy, you must be ‘Kindertransport’, ‘The Drawer Boy’, ‘Old Wicked willing to live as a saviour or a slave. Songs’ (VDL for Best Produc on and Director), To have all or nothing. And you have ‘Dealer's Choice’, ‘Three Days of Rain’, ‘The Shoe‐ very little control over that choice. Horn Sonata’ (Victorian premiere), ‘Blood Brothers’, ‘Master Class’ and ‘Terra Nova’. Other notable Or... produc ons include ‘Amadeus’ (Lyrebird Best Produc on and Director), ‘The Laramie Project’, Or you can choose something ‘Twelve Angry Men’, ‘Torch Song Trilogy’, ‘Brighton different. You can learn from the Beach Memoirs’ and ‘The Heidi Chronicles’. destruction of others. You can create and live into a new system. Earlier this year Chris directed ‘Burning’ for You can rise above the either/or Geelong‐based company ‘Mad As Us’, starring Logie choice of being a parent versus a Award winner Libby Tanner. His produc on of ‘The Laramie Project’ in 2005 at Chapel Off Chapel won child. A saviour versus a slave. And the Green Room Award for Best Independent you can become an adult, not Produc on. He is the Ar s c Director and founder of rebelling against or caving into your the successful independent company Mockingbird culture, but creating a vision of your Theatre with a remount of ‘The Laramie Project’, own and working to make that option ‘Blue/Orange’, ‘How I Learned To Drive’, ‘Equus’ and into something real. ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ to his credit. That ... consider that as the core of This is his last community‐based produc on as a One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. director for a while as he focuses his energies on The rebel. And the follower. And the Mockingbird and is proud to go out with a bang with enlightened witness this wonderful play and amazing cast and crew. He would like to thank Heidelberg for their fantas c From an essay by CHUCK PALAHNIUK support and belief in him over the years especially his on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest extraordinary friend Bruce Akers. CAST
CHIEF BROMDEN ...... Paul Schmidt DALE HARDING ...... Adrian Carr BILLY BIBBIT ...... James Plunkett SCANLON...... Rick Barry CHESWICK ...... Tony Costa MARTINI ...... Paul Kennedy RUCKLY ...... Rhys Purdey RANDLE P. M CMURPHY ...... Tim Constantine AIDE WARRREN ...... Christian Dell’Olio AIDE WILLIAMS ...... Ben Dowthwaite DR SPIVEY ...... Bruce Akers NURSE RATCHED ...... Paula McDonald NURSE FLINN ...... Clare Hayes AIDE TURKLE ...... David Small CANDY STARR ...... Catherine Jardine SANDRA ...... Fiona Heart
SETTING: The Day Room in a ward of a State Mental Hospital somewhere in the Pacific NorthWest, USA. YEAR: 1962
This play includes strong language and the use of herbal cigarettes.
The play is in two acts.
Refreshments are available before the show and during interval. Production Team
DIRECTOR Chris Baldock PRODUCTION COORDINATION Bruce Akers STAGE MANAGER Melanie Belcher ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Bobbie Parish SET DESIGN George Tranter LIGHTING DESIGN Deryk Hartwick SOUND DESIGN Chris Baldock WARDROBE Maureen McInerney, Diane Brennan SET CONSTRUCTION Owen Evans, Paddy Moriarty, Des Harris, Neville Wilkie, Ian McCabe, Noel Purdey, Doug McNaughton, Steph Gonelli, Ian Green, Christian Dell’Olio and HTC members PROPERTIES Bruce Akers SET DECOR Mal Cother and HTC members LIGHTING OPERATOR Bruce Moorehouse SOUND CONFIGURATION George Bissett SOUND OPERATORS Trent Ramsay & Emma Fox REHEARSAL PROMPT Steph Gonelli & Bobbie Parish PHOTOGRAPHY David Belton PROGRAMME & POSTER Chris McLean PUBLICITY Bruce Akers, Toni Tyers, Chris McLean BOX OFFICE Toni Tyers, June Cherrey, Linda Coutts, Jenni Purdey FRONT OF HOUSE Jenny Gilbert and HTC members
HTC wishes to thank Toni and Bob Tyers, June Cherrey and Melanie Rowe for their contribution to this production. TIM CONSTANTINE (Randle P. McMurphy). ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ is Tim’s first show at Heidelberg since 2011, when he appeared in ‘The History Boys’ and ‘Under Milk Wood’. Other roles at Heidelberg include Lord Alfred Douglas in ‘The Judas Kiss’, Quick Lamb in ‘Cloudstreet’, Louis Ironson in ‘Angels in America: Millennium Approaches’ and Rosencrantz in ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’. Rosencrantz won him the VDL Award for Best Actor in a Comedy. Last year he won the VDL for Best Actor in a Drama, for his portrayal of Father Brendan Flynn in ‘Doubt’ at Williamstown Little Theatre. In his spare time, Tim is extremely modest.
PAULA McDONALD (Nurse Ratched). Paula has appeared at HTC on five previous occasions as Madame de Merteuil in ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’, a pregnant ninny in ‘Close of Play’, an historian in ‘Arcadia’, a New York real estate agent in ‘I Hate Hamlet’ and most recently as a homicidal septuagenarian in ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’! This, her seventh show with director Christopher Baldock, shows her level of respect for his inspiring direction. Past favourite shows include ‘Masterclass’, ‘The Laramie Project’ (Best Production independent theatre in the Melbourne Green Room awards), ‘How I Learnt to Drive’ and ‘Coralie Lansdowne Says No!’ Paula is most pleased to be playing such an iconic role with such a wonderful group of fellow "loonies"
PAUL SCHMIDT (Chief Bromden). Paul's focus and field of expertise is improvised theatre in all its forms. After several university productions he performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2010. In the same year, he joined Dick Chudnow's ‘Comedy Sportz’ and acted as a performing and teaching member in Berlin. Here he also performed in the ‘English Community Theatre’ and was part of the original cast of ‘Shakespeare im Park’. It's first performance of ‘Henry IV Part 1’ was later on turned into a radio play. In 2013 Paul moved to Australia and is proud to join the Heidelberg Theatre for ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest’.
JAMES PLUNKETT (Billy Bibbit). James is enjoying working with the HTC for the second time. He previously played the role of Dakin in the 2011 season of ‘The History Boys’. James has studied a range of performance aspects over the years with The VCAM, and Zen Zen Zo physical theatre company. James' other notable theatrical involvement includes being an ensemble cast member of ‘The Upstairs Mix Up’ (2012 Melbourne International Comedy Festival), and as an addition to the VCAM 3rd year production of ‘Ghetto’ in the role of Levars. James is excited to be playing Billy Bibbit in this production of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest’, as it is proving to be his most challenging acting experience yet. ADRIAN CARR (Dale Harding). Adrian appeared here last in HTC’s ‘The 39 Steps’ and prior to that ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’. In 2012 he directed M.A.S.H. at Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre. Adrian has also appeared in ‘Freedom of the City’, ‘Taking Steps’, ‘Prisoner of 2nd Avenue’ (winner of Lyrebird Best Actor), ‘The Cocktail Hour’, ‘Amadeus’ and ‘The Ghost Train’. Adrian also enjoys musical theatre, most recent performances including Sancho in CLOCs ‘Man of La Mancha’, Max Bialystock in Whitehorse's ‘The Producers’ (for which he received a best actor award) and Tevye in Babirra's ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ (best actor nomination). This year Adrian reprised the role of Tevye for the MDMS production of ’Fiddler on the Roof’ PAUL KENNEDY (Martini). A seasoned performer, Paul appeared at HTC as The Headmaster in ‘The History Boys’ (2011) Mick Dowd in ‘A Skull in Connemara’ (2009) and Roy Cohn in ‘Angels In America: Millennium Approaches’ (2008). Paul has studied with the National Theatre, VCA, and the Globe Theatre (UK). His many credits transverse straight theatre, musicals, film and television and he has won many acting awards. Paul’s other appearances include ‘Torch Song Trilogy’, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, ‘The Elephant Man’, ‘The Crucible’, ‘Les Misérables’, ‘La Cage aux Folles’, ‘Cabaret’, ‘City Homicide’, ‘Stingers’, and ‘Kath & Kim’.
RHYS PURDEY (Ruckly). Rhys has the spent the last three and a half years learning the theatre craft at La Trobe University, where he has directed productions of ‘Closer’ and ‘The Blue Room’. Rhys is also an avid technical operator, having helmed the desk for plays such as ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and ‘The Fence In Its Thousandth Year’ in the past. Outside of Uni, Rhys appeared as an extra in the film ‘The Cup’ and despite his one second on-screen appearance, loved the experience immensely. This is also Rhys’ second time acting in a production of Cuckoo’s Nest but it is his first time performing at the Heidelberg Theatre Company.
TONY COSTA (Cheswick) Tony joined theatre in 1993, with his first show being ‘West Side Story’ with Altona Theatre. Since then he has done shows in the Melbourne Fringe Festival, and was in a cover band in the mid 90s doing gigs around Melbourne. Tony is glad to be back working with Heidelberg Theatre Company and the cast of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest’. Previous shows include ‘August: Osage County’ with HTC earlier this year, ‘The Tree Man’ with Eltham Little Theatre, ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ and ‘Grapes of Wrath’ with HTC, and ‘Laughter on the 23rd Floor’ with Leo 9. RICK BARRY (Scanlon). Like many theatre people out there, Rick was initially drawn to the stage as a child – first appearing in ‘The King and I’ in a very small part as a 4 year old! – and explored his interest through school and university. Then life took a different turn and he took a 20-year break before his involvement in the Next Wave Festival in 2010 reignited the spark. Rick has since worked on a number of productions with companies around the north, including his directing debut earlier this year with Moreland’s ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’. This is Rick’s first appearance at Heidelberg. He’s been fortunate enough to live on four different continents and has called Melbourne home for the past 15 years.
CLARE HAYES (Nurse Flinn). Clare had her first taste of acting at age 6 and performed in high school musicals, whilst gaining skills in theatre, as part of ‘Actors Ensemble’ at Victorian Youth Theatre. After high school, Clare became involved in screen acting, building on her craft and landing a minor role in the feature film ‘Taj’, directed by Winston Furlong. Missing the theatre world, Clare made her return last year playing Sorel Bliss in ‘Hay Fever’ and recently appeared at Heidelberg in ‘Blithe Spirit’ as Elvira. She is thoroughly enjoying her experience at HTC with a director, cast and production team who are all so very talented, supportive and slightly cuckoo.
CATHERINE JARDINE (Candy Starr). Catherine (aka Cat) has been involved in theatre for the past 10 years. She recently moved to Melbourne and loves the passion the city has for The Arts. In 2012 Cat co-wrote and directed 'Creatures - the Musical' with Albury- Wodonga Theatre Company. She directed 'Between a Rock and a Hard Place' in 2011 and was last seen in ‘Bombshells’ which toured the Riverina in 2010 and 2011. Cat has also been seen in shows including ‘Sweet Charity’, ‘The World Bra Unclipping Championships at Garimba’, ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ and ‘Les Misérables’. This is her first time at HTC and she has loved every minute of working under the creative direction of Chris and alongside so many talented thespians. To quote Candy Starr - Ain’t that a hoot!!
FIONA HEART (Sandra). This is Fiona's first entrance into the onstage theatrical world. Making the decision this year to follow a lifelong niggle at becoming an actress, Fiona moved to Melbourne from Perth and has enjoyed her first few months landing the part of Sandra in tonight’s production, and playing supporting and leading roles in eight student short films. Fiona says she has fallen in love with the acting world and will always remember her very first play fondly because of working with such a fantastic crew of people. BRUCE AKERS (Dr Spivey). Bruce has directed such productions as ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, ‘The Judas Kiss’, ‘Angels in America: Millennium Approaches’, ‘The History Boys’, ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’, ‘The Accrington Pals’, ‘Sylvia’ and ‘Translations’ among others. He has appeared on the HTC stage in many productions over the years – his favourites being ‘Cloudstreet’, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, ‘Amadeus’, ‘The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby’, ‘Hobson's Choice’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Bruce has also worked extensively with Williamstown Little Theatre and Malvern Theatre in such productions as ‘Compleat Female Stage Beauty’, ‘The Drawer Boy’, ‘God of Carnage’, ‘The Elephant Man’ and ‘Gross Indecency’.
DAVID SMALL (Aide Turkle). David is no stranger to this theatre. In the past 30 years he has appeared in twenty-three productions from Henry II in ‘The Lion In Winter’ in 1983 to Mr Witherspoon in ‘Arsenic And Old Lace’ last year. Among his directing achievements here were ‘Hobson’s Choice’, ‘The Corn Is Green’ and ‘Amadeus’, also co-directing ‘The Life & Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby’ in which also played Ralph Nickleby. David is one of only five to receive two VDL Best Male Actor Awards, an achievement he shares with fellow ‘Cuckoo’ cast member, Tim Constantine. He is more involved in adjudication, reviewing, writing and broadcasting these days, appearing on stage only in cameo roles.
CHRISTIAN DELL’OLIO (Aide Warren). Christian is excited to be performing in his second role at HTC. His first being the role of Tin Man in HTC Youth's ‘The Wizard of Oz’. Christian is head of the Youth department of the theatre. After directing "Snow White" in 2012, he has decided to focus this year on acting. The role of Williams is proving to be a challenge but Christian is thrilled to participate in such a great production. As well as being involved with filming and editing short films, he says “nothing can compare to acting on stage”. Christian would like to thank HTC, Chris Baldock and his many friends for the support and confidence. He hopes you enjoy this wonderful production.
BEN DOWTHWAITE (Aide Williams). Ben began his performing career as a child, entertaining other kids with his impressions of celebrities including Jim Carrey. He is an adept musician, having travelled interstate performing in various bands in recent years. Ben is currently studying film and film production at Deakin University. His first starring role saw him perform as Albert Peterson in his high- school production of ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ in 2007. This is his first show since then and he’s looking forward to many more. He would like to thank director, Chris Baldock, for this opportunity and his fellow cast and crew for their continued efforts in bringing this show to life. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST Heidelberg Theatre Company Season 2013Play 4