One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest at Rochester Opera House

A hit novel that became a hit play that became a hit film! Jack Nicholson played the leading role of McMurphy in the movie as a charming rogue who pleads insanity to get out of his latest prison sentence. Unfortunately, his plan backfires and he is sent to a mental institution where he clashes head on with a fierce disciplinarian by the name of Nurse Ratched. McMurphy and Ratched compete for the hearts and minds of the other patients in a power struggle of wits and charisma versus smarts and tyranny. He leads his fellow patients out of introversion, stages a revolt so that they can see the World Series on television, and arranges a rollicking midnight party with liquor and loose women. The play stands as one of the finest dramatic and heart-wrenching scripts in modern theatre and culminates in both a shocking yet somehow sweet ending. (Contains some adult language)

Authors

• Dale Wasserman

Tony Awards and Nominations for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest