Review-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest-Naiad Productions
10-10-14
By: Michael Dorsher
Imagine a world filled by two castes of people: those who have power and others who are voiceless. Those who have power govern under the mantra that, “We are here to help you. We know what is best.” The voiceless receive the right to cast votes in order to direct their own destiny. When the population chooses a destiny that meets with disapproval, they discover that this ability to choose was but a fleeting vanity. The power has never been transferred. It will take extreme action to make any changes to their world. Do the people have the courage to stand up against their wards? What consequences await those who take action against the powerful?
This is the tale of Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. If the action happening inside the HK Rep’s Black Box Theatre parallels that on Harcourt Road, it’s purely coincidental. Is it particularly poignant given the current political climate in the city? Most certainly.
Naiad Productions has a real winner on their hands with Cuckoo’s Nest. Lara Genovese’s stage design sets a brilliant start to the experience, accented with great effect by Felix Brown’s lighting. Both aspects provide a simple yet versatile canvas for the performance to take shape.
The cast is led by Candice Moore as Nurse Ratched and the powers that be with Rob Archibald as the cocksure, rabble rouser Randle McMurphy. The two foil one another as well as any other adaptation of the novel I’ve seen. Melvin James plays the big chief well but, despite being the tallest on stage, doesn’t have the real size difference to truly stand out as the quiet giant. Melvin’s performance is powerful when he speaks but he doesn’t carry the silent moments as stoically as a larger actor could. Despite this handicap, his presence grows throughout the story and hits a high note in the final climax of the play.
The cadre of crazies, who speckle the remainder of the show with its flavor, is done much justice by the team of Damian Coory, Ben Swift, Guy Russell, Joseph Angelakis and Hamish Campbell. Where McMurphy provides the rebel opportunist and The Chief the third party observer, the cadre give us the spectrum of human emotion: hope, joy, fear, sadness, love, loss, and the need to carry on. A lesser team would have left us feeling flat. Because the Naiad team works so well together, we are taken on the emotional roller coaster with them.
If you’re wondering if you should pick up some tickets to fill out your Friday or Saturday night plans, I’ve got bad news for you… Those shows are already sold out. Cancel your afternoon and pickup some of the few remaining tickets for the matinees on Saturday or Sunday. The performance is well worth the price of admission and it just might be the fuel needed to keep your fires burning in the battle for Hong Kong – whichever side you happen to find yourself on.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is playing through Sunday. For more information, click here.
Comments
No comment at the moment.