The Grove Theatre announces auditions for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which is running on weekends from September 12th to September 21st. Auditions will be held at the theatre on Monday and Tuesday, July 21st and 22nd at from 8pm to 10 pm. Call backs are on Wednesday, July 23rd by invitation. The rehearsal schedule is still to be determined. Director: Barry Devine.
All parts open, be prepared to read from the script.
You may also choose to present a 1 minute contemporary monologue. We encourage people of ALL ethnicities to audition. All are welcome and all roles are open for men and women. Men are especially encouraged to audition. Those auditioning should be at least 18 years old. Auditioners should bring a theatrical resume and a recent photo to leave with the audition panel. Those without a photo may have a picture taken at the auditions.
Kirk Douglas played McMurphy on Broadway as a charming rogue who contrives to serve a short sentence in an airy mental institution rather in a prison. This, he learns, was a mistake. He clashes with the head nurse, quickly takes over the yard and accomplishes what the medical profession has been unable to do for twelve years; he makes a presumed deaf and dumb Indian talk. He leads others 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 chippies. For one offense, the head nurse has him submit to shock treatment. The party is too horrid for her and she forces him to submit to a final correction a frontal lobotomy.
Please contact the Director with any questions:
barrydevine@ymail.com 951-236-8144
Character Breakdown
Note: Age ranges listed below are to be used as a guide only and can be flexible.
Randle P. McMurphy Male,
He is loud, sexual, dirty, and confident. McMurphy is an obvious foil for the quiet and repressed Bromden and the sterile and mechanical Nurse Ratched. His loud, free laughter stuns the other patients, who have grown accustomed to repressed emotions. Throughout the entire moment of his introduction, not a single voice rises to meet his. At times he comes off as fun-loving and he is always full of self-confidence. His broad devilish grin, loud talk and swagger all remind one of a car salesman or a pitchman you see on a sideshow stage. Strong Character Actor.
Chief Bromden; Male,
A large, bull-muscled Native American (Indian) with schizophrenia. While he is a powerful man of six and a half feet, he thinks of himself as a tiny dwarf. Through most of the action he pretends to be deaf and dumb. The reason for Bromden’s hospitalization is cloaked in ambiguity. He may have had a breakdown from witnessing the decline of his father or from the horrors of fighting in World War II. Both of these possible scenarios involve an emasculating and controlling authority.
Nurse Ratched Female,
The ward superintendent and ultimate authority. A handsome, well endowed woman with an odd perfection about her — a face smooth, calculated, and precision-made, like an expensive baby doll. A former army nurse, Nurse Ratched represents the oppressive mechanization, dehumanization, and emasculation of modern society. Ratched has complete control over every aspect of the ward, as well as almost complete control over her own emotions. McMurphy manages to ruffle Ratched because he plays her game: he picks up on her weak spots right away. He uses his overt sexuality to throw her off her machinelike track, and he is not taken in by her thin facade of compassion or her falsely therapeutic tactics.
Dale Harding; Male,
The most educated of the patients and their unofficial leader before McMurphy’s arrival; a handsome, nervous effete man. Harding helps McMurphy understand the realities of the hospital. Although married, Harding struggles with his own sexuality and relationship with his beautiful wife.
Billy Bibbit; Male,
In age, early 30′s, but psychologically an adolescent still under his mother’s control. Billy has an extreme speech impediment (stutter). A shy patient. Billy seems much younger than his physical age. Billy is dominated by his mother, one of Nurse Ratched’s close friends. Billy is voluntarily in the hospital, as he is afraid of the outside world. Strong Character Actor.
Charles Cheswick; Male,
A Patient, alternately truculent and cringing. Cheswick is always demanding change, but never has the courage to see anything through.
Scanlon; Male,The only Acute besides McMurphy & Bromden who was involuntarily committed to the hospital. A patient, obsessed with constructing bombs to blow up the world.
Martini; Male,
An eager and bright-eyed Italian who suffers from hallucinations.
Ruckley; Male,
A once powerful man, now blank-faced and empty-eyed, the result of a botched lobotomy. He spends most of the time crucified against a wall, occasionally screaming profanities.
Dr. Spivey; Male,
The resident psychiatrist, a harassed little fellow of no great force. Nurse Ratched chose Doctor Spivey as the doctor for her ward because he is as easily cowed and dominated as the patients.
Nurse Flinn; Female,
A young nurse , eager but also apprehensive of the patients.
Aides Warren & Williams; Males,
The two principal orderlies in the ward with enough hate to be capable of performing Nurse Ratched’s bidding with precision.
Aide Turkle; Male,
An elderly kind man who works the late shift in the ward. He enjoys a good party.
Candy Starr; Female,
A beautiful carefree prostitute and friend of McMurphy.
Sandra; Female,
Another prostitute and friend of McMurphy.
Videos
