Hamilton and Harrison Set for BTF's 'Cuckoo's Nest'

Berkshire Theatre Festival will present Dale Wasserman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, based on the novel by Ken Kesey and directed by Eric Hill on the Main Stage. This production begins previews on July 10 and runs through July 28.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is "a powerful and thought-provoking drama that explores the treatment of patients in a mental institution. This play originally opened on Broadway in 1963 and has since been performed all over the world. Milos Forman directed an Oscar-winning film adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The difference between the film and Dale Wasserman's stage adaptation is that the Native American Chief Bromden is, as he was in the Ken Kesey novel, at the heart of the narrative. Wasserman also wrote Man of La Mancha that premiered on Broadway in 1965. Recently, he published the book The Impossible Musical: The Man of La Mancha Story, about the trials and tribulations of creating this now-classic musical drama," state press notes.

Jonathan Epstein will play Randle P. McMurphy, a charismatic con man trying to avoid prison by faking mental illness. Epstein's BTF credits include Amadeus, Via Dolorosa, and Rat in the Skull. He is known regionally for his long association as an actor, director, and teacher with Shakespeare & Company. Linda Hamilton will portray Nurse Ratched, the manipulative and commanding head nurse. Last season she played Maxine Faulk in The Night of the Iguana at BTF. Hamilton is best known for playing Sara Connor in the films The Terminator and Terminator 2. Randy Harrison will play the fragile young man, Billy Bibbit. He previously appeared at BTF in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus and Equus and he played Justin Taylor on the Showtime television series "Queer as Folk." Other performers include Ron Bagden, Crystal Bock, Austin Durant, Jerry Krasser, Tommy Schrider, Robert Serrell, E. Gray Simons III, and Anthony Stockard.

At BTF, Hill has directed The Glass Menagerie, Amadeus, A Christmas Carol, A Dream Play, Siddhartha, Life's a Dream, Camelot, My Fair Lady, Peter Pan, and Moby Dick—Rehearsed. To create the stark institutional world of the play, Hill will collaborate with set designer Karl Eigsti, costume designer Jessical Risser-Milne, lighting designer Matthew E. Adelson, and sound designer J Hagenbuckle.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on BTF's Main Stage previews July 10-12, opens July 13, and closes July 28. Performances are Monday through Saturday evenings at 8pm with matinees at 2pm on Thursdays and Saturdays. A free "postscript" discussion with the cast will be held following the July 16 performance. This post-show discussion will give the audience the opportunity to ask questions and share comments with the cast.

Tickets range from $37 to $64. Students with valid ID receive fifty percent discount. Contact the BTF Box Office at 413-298-5576 or visit www.berkshiretheatre.org. Box Office hours are Monday through Saturday from 10am to 7pm and one hour prior to curtain.

Photo of Randy Harrison by Linda Lenzi

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