‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ review, Gielgud Theatre, London
I went to see “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at the Gielgud Theatre,
with Christian Slater as McMurphy, the other night. It was extremely
good. The whole cast were excellent, the actress playing Nurse Ratchet
being the best of all; certainly topping Christian Slater, who was still
very convincing.
Having seen the film version a long time ago (at least 10 years) I
felt in a good position a) to know more-or-less what I was letting
myself in for, but b) not expecting a clone of Jack Nicholson, who
performed very well in the film. From memory, the play had a few more
light-hearted moments than the film yet still managed to convey an aura
of impending doom. There was only a single set with virtually no prop
changes at all and the action is perfectly contained within it.
Good points: the supporting cast, the complexity of all the
characters.
Bad point: the Indian didn’t look much like an Indian. In fact, I
thought he started to sound a bit like Tommy Cooper towards the end of
the play. (Although another of the party I was with leaned more towards
Elvis.)