This production doesn't fly

By Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 17, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest sounds like the perfect project for PHAMALY. Over its nearly 20 years, the troupe of physically handicapped actors has brought new power to musicals and now plays.

The company members' physical attributes often call attention to hidden themes in a work, and it seemed that this drama of oppressive institutionalization would follow that pattern.

But in its second "straight" play, the company stumbles, missing the refined characterizations essential to a story requiring empathy. Adapted by Dale Wasserman from Ken Kesey's novel, Cuckoo's Nest gives us a leader in Randle P. McMurphy, a lifelong criminal and sociable rebel who welcomes commitment in a mental hospital as an escape from the work farm where he was imprisoned. He galvanizes the beaten patients and engages in a fiery power struggle with the icy Nurse Ratched.

Director Nicholas Sugar's production is well-staged and beautifully designed, but the acting is frequently too large, more like that of an old-school musical than a nuanced character study.

Stephen Hahn's McMurphy draws us in when he is angry and a little wild. He has an appealing gregarious bluster, but it hits the same pitch repeatedly, and his pronouncements come off more like speeches than natural speech.

Sean McGee takes on the difficult role of Chief Bromden, who stands silent most of the play. Again, the production has nailed the character's physicality. During his mute scenes, though, Chief seems overtly sad, rather than stoic. He does far better when he has someone to speak to and is affecting in the second act when he resists rebellion, saying, "I'm too little. I'm not big enough."

As Nurse Ratched, Lucy Roucis wisely avoids overplaying the story's overt villain, but a bit more intent might have conveyed her potential for menace. She rises to the play's final moments, as a ferocity emerges from this chilly bureaucrat.

Noteworthy supporting roles litter the production. Mark Dissette plays the leader of the patients with a mix of officiousness and spinelessness, while Jason B. Dorwart's boyish Billy Bibbit feels so real the heart goes out to him. Sara Caplan makes a doctor who bows to Ratched's every suggestion; Jenna Bainbridge and Katrina Weber are rousing mod party girls.

Charles Dean Packard's set is note-perfect, from the fluorescent lighting to a glassed-in nurses' room with its bland travel poster. Clare Henkel's costumes get to bust out of their institutional look with Candy and Sandra's Day-Glo hippie wear.

Cuckoo's Nest had the potential to be yet another stellar PHAMALY production, but it needed as much attention to the performances as to the more visual aspects.

bornsteinl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5101

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

* Grade: B-

* When and where: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; through Feb. 3; Aurora Fox, 9900 E. Colfax Ave.

* Cost: $22 to $24

* Information: 303-739-1970 or phamaly.org

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