LOCAL THEATRE: COD Spring Play 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' Showing Soon

The following was submitted for publication by the College of the Desert: 

College of the Desert’s (COD) Spring play this year is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

The performances are over two weekends in COD’s Pollock Theatre, 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, Mar. 15 -23, and Sundays, Mar. 17 and 24 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for students and seniors, $15 for adults, and $10 per person for groups of 10 or more. Purchase tickets at College of the Desert’s bookstore and on-line at www.ticketleap.com.

A charming anti-authoritarian criminal, Randle P. McMurphy, is transferred to a mental institution for evaluation.  Although he does not show any signs of mental illness, he contrives a plan to avoid hard labor and serve the rest of his sentence in a more relaxed hospital environment rather than in a prison. McMurphy's ward is run by steely, unyielding Nurse Mildred Ratched, who employs subtle humiliation, unpleasant medical treatments and a mind-numbing daily routine to suppress the patients.

Upon McMurphy’s arrival he finds the patients are more fearful of Ratched than they are focused on becoming functional in the outside world. McMurphy, determined to prove to the other patients they can make it on the outside, and Nurse Ratched find themselves in a battle of wills to see who will “crack” first.

This production is the winner of the 2001 Outer Critics Circle Award and Tony Award for Outstanding Revival in 2001. The New York Times has proclaimed One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest “one of the finest, most meaningful and most moving plays of recent times. It is the stuff of great theatre; brilliant and powerful.”

“This is an iconic story that has found success as a novel, stage production, and a film. It has touched the hearts and minds of audience members and readers for 50 years,” says COD Assistant Professor of Theatre and director Tres Dean. “The play is a powerful commentary on the institutional process and the fragility and strength of the human mind. It also serves as a critique of behaviorism and humanistic principles.”

The talented ensemble cast consists of current COD students and alumni Jennifer Kiehl, Shawn Abramowitz, Johnny Bolth, Anthony Gomez, Lance Phillips-Martinez, Rick St. Claire, Ramon Martinez, Briana Taylor, Miranda Hane, Todd Silverberg, Pedro Mora, Paul Mackey, Paulette Bartlett, Nina Charming, Chad Arnold, Matthew Reyes, Chris Moody, Brieana Holguin, and local resident performer Gazpar Ascencio. The scenic / props designer is Diamond Braverman. The costume designer is Jennifer Kiehl. Lights and sound are designed by J.W. Layne. The music design is conceived by Noemi Villela Dean. The make-up and hair design is by Lynda Shaeps. 

For ticket information and reservations, please call 760-773-2565. Tickets are also available at the College of the Desert bookstore and on-line at www.ticketleap.com.