<p>Barry Sears as Chief Bromden.</p>

Astor Street Opry Company continues to surprise and delight its North Coast community by providing top-notch performances. Although it is most know for melodrama like Shanghaied in Astoria, ASOC has been experimenting with more serious drama in recent years. Now its gone full in. Get ready for the companys version of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.

One more cuckoo

Director Markus Brown studied the play, adapted for Broadway by Dale Wasserman, for nearly a year. And he convinced the Opry production committee that, as long-time Opry aficionado Judith Niland said, This show is a worthy and important piece of stage craft.

Markus showed up at the monthly production meeting in March with several committed actors, sponsors and a 3D set design, she said. The committee was swayed by his presentation even though this play goes outside the box of what ASOC normally presents. We want to continue to expand whats presented at the playhouse, so we felt this challenge was an excellent test to see if the public will support different genres of theater in our community.

But does the world need one more version whether film or drama of Ken Keseys 1962 novel about an Oregon psychiatric hospital and the modern worlds inhumanity to man?

Browns answer is an emphatic yes! Ive directed humor and the old chestnuts and was looking for something with some teeth in it that was local and relevant to us today, he said. When I first got the script, I read it and read it and read it. I fell in love with it. The play has a rawness that struck a deep chord in me.

Theme Statements

One of my quorum-of-director mentors, Del Corbett, always says, Find the theme statement, find the principle statement in the play, Brown said. And for me this one was fairly easy: Its face your fear. The men in the sanatorium are caught in what (character) Chief Bromden calls The Combine, the machine that cuts mens souls down to size. Its an example of how absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Brown continued, When Mac McMurphy arrives, he comes in full of life and infuses the sentiment of taking chances and getting out there in life. The movie emphasizes Nurse Ratched as the villain, but whats evil is that Combine. Nurse Ratched deserves what she gets, theres no doubt about that shes not a nice person but shes a tool in the system, a cog in the machine herself. Its a system that assimilates people into a negative universe.

Steve Wood, who plays McMurphy, said that his girlfriend Carie Barnes (Nurse Flynn) helped him understand McMurphys primary theme. Its his raw power. I knew from the get-go that I had some big shoes to fill and I dont mean the hundreds of other actors whove played this part I mean McMurphys shoes, said Wood.

My favorite line of his, maybe of all time is, But I tried, didnt I goddamnit, at least I did that it expresses him entirely. Thats his magic, that hes going to go at something with everything hes got. Thats what we wish we could all find in ourselves.

Stagecraft

Audiences pay rapt attention to what the characters are doing onstage, but, especially in a production as complex as this one, there is plenty that takes place behind the scenes. Mick Alderman, the lighting designer for the show, added touches that create the tone and atmosphere onstage. Director Brown calls Alderman a real treasure for our community. His lighting will make the show. I could go on and on about it. It underscores the emotional content brings it home.

I didnt do anything other than what I normally do, Alderman said, making his lighting work sound straight forward. For instance, old-fashioned neon lights, often used in medical settings, have a greenish tinge. So I gave the nurses booth that otherworldly look, and I added it to other areas of the stage to show Nurse Ratcheds influence.

Markus also designed some large windows on the set, and I have the lighting coming from the sides in a dramatic shadowing, like bars falling on the actors, giving a sense of imprisonment. When the Chief has his hallucinations, because hes Native American, I give him a golden tinge. I wanted a real contrast.

The role of the lighting designer is to be in service of the material, Alderman added. If the lighting calls attention to itself, Ive distracted the audience from the show and havent done my job right.

Jayne Osborn, who has worked in various aspects of the theater for 30 years, will be running the lights for the show. Yup, Ill be pushing the sliders up and down, she said. Osborn is also the production manager. Judy Niland is my mentor on production management. In that job I make sure that everybody else is doing their job, that the production comes in on budget. And I need to know what the director needs so it all runs smoothly.

Three in a flock

Both in the novel and the play, Chief Bromden, though pretending to be deaf and mute, is the narrator. Most think he is the one who flew over the cuckoos nest.

This novel is the greatest form of allegory I have ever read, said Brown. It is so deep and beautiful and awful and so repelling. I force myself to read it every few years to remind myself that we are only a few ticks away from that darkness.

Though this challenging play is for adult audiences only, as theater veteran Osborn says, Community theater really makes me happy. It gives people a way to be creative that doesnt hurt anybody. Its a great social place, it fosters talent and its a great venue for all sorts of art. Plus it makes for a healthy community.

Alderman sums it up: It should be a good show we hope people come out for it.