People's Light & Theatre Co Closes ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST 10/16

People's Light & Theatre Company presents One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Dale Wasserman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey, from September 12 - October 16, 2010 on the Main Stage. Jackson Gay directs. People's Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA 19355. For tickets call 610.644.3500 or visit PeoplesLight.org.

In this gripping and unforgettable drama, Randle McMurphy thinks he's beaten the system by getting himself incarcerated in a state mental hospital instead of serving a prison term on a work farm. His rebelliousness and charisma make him both hero and savior to the other patients, but he pays a high price when the forceful Nurse Ratched takes control.
Ken Kesey's novel was inspired by his experiences working at a mental health facility as an orderly. It was published in 1962 and then adapted for the stage by Dale Wasserman in 1963. Adding to the story's success, the book was adapted into the film version starring Jack Nicholson in 1975, winning numerous Academy Awards. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the film.

"I love the challenge of working on a play that has such a presence in the minds of so many Americans," Director Jackson Gay says. "Cuckoo's Nest is commonly required reading for students in high school and the film version of the novel has given the story a solid place in the hearts of many."

She continues, "One thing that I've been thinking about a lot lately is the power of laughter. At the beginning of the play, the patients in the hospital are incapable of true laughter. If they do laugh, it's behind others' backs or at each other's expense and is actually more of a whimper than a real body-shaking laugh. It's only when McMurphy comes into their lives, with his huge booming genuine laughter, that they begin to rediscover the laughter inside of them and let it out. In a way, it is the patients' newly rediscovered ability to laugh that allows them to begin to heal in some way. This simple human expression of joy and release goes a long way to proving that laughter really is the best medicine."

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest previews on September 12th at 2pm and 7pm, September 14th at 7:30pm, September 15th at 2pm and 7:30pm, September 16th at 7:30pm, and September 17th at 8pm. The play opens on Saturday, September 18th at 8pm and runs through October 16th. Audiences are encouraged to join the artists after each Thursday evening performance to discuss the production.

Single tickets range in price from $25 - $45. Special discounts, meal packages, and talkbacks with the artists are available for groups of 10 or more. 10am performances for school groups are also available. For more information or to purchase group tickets, call 610.647.1900 x134 or email group@peopleslight.org. Actors, prices, performances dates and times are subject to change. Additional service charges may apply.

Subscription tickets are now available. In addition to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, shows in the 6-Play series include Legacy of Light (October 13 - November 7, 2010), The Three Musketeers (The Later Years): A Musical Panto (November 17, 2010 - January 9, 2011), The Master Builder (March 23 - April 17, 2011), Dividing the Estate (May 11 - June 5, 2011), and Hatchetman (June 15 - July 10, 2011).

THE SCOOP

With this production People's Light continues its program called The Scoop: History, Context, and Gossip, a lively discussion before every performance. A member of the cast or artistic staff will discuss the world of the play, how and why it was chosen, as well as how it was cast, designed, and rehearsed. Refreshments will be available in the lobby before The Scoop begins and before the performance. The program will start one hour before the curtain and will take place in the theatre. No reservations are necessary.

ABOUT PEOPLE'S LIGHT

People's Light, a professional theatre founded in 1974 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, makes plays drawn from many sources to entertain, inspire, and engage our community. We extend our mission of making and experiencing theatre through arts education programs that excite curiosity about, and deepen understanding of, the world around us. These plays and programs bring people together and provide opportunities for reflection, discovery, and celebration.

KEY BIOS

Jerome Preston Bates (Aide Turkle) appeared on Broadway in Seven Guitars by August Wilson and created the role of Floyd Barton opposite Viola Davis at the Goodman in Chicago. He has also performed at The Public Theatre, Circle Rep, New Federal, Theatre Row and in Fabulation at Center Stage. Other regional work includes Yale Rep, Hartford Stage, Kennedy Center, Long Wharf, The Folger, and The Wilma. As a director: the entire August Wilson Cycle at LCL Museum in Augusta, GA. As a writer: Augusta Brown, Jimi Hendrix, winner of Five Audelco Awards and most recently the Carter G. Woodson Award for theatre excellence at City Hall, NYC. Film: Shaft, It Runs In The Family, The Out Of Towners, The Narrows. TV: as Derek Frye on All My Children, Travis Smith in Oz, Law & Order, NY Undercover, and Lights Out.

Jessica Bedford (Nurse Flinn) is a recent graduate of Villanova's Theatre Program, earning her Master of the Arts. While there she was seen in Le Dindon (Lucienne, KCACTF Irene Ryan nomination), Metamorphoses (Alcyone and others), and As You Like It (Rosalind, KCACTF Irene Ryan nomination). Other regional credits include Mauckingbird Theatre (Germaine, Never the Sinner) and the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival (Lady Percy, Henry IV, part 1 and Lady Macduff, Macbeth). She holds a BA in Theatre from DeSales University and currently serves as the Director of Education at the Montgomery Theater.

Laura Catlaw (Candy Starr), a graduate of the University of the Arts, has worked with many theatre companies in the area. Some credits include: Interact (Jihad Jones), Arden (Funny Thing...Forum), Bristol Riverside Theatre (Mrs. Bob Cratchitt's...Binge), Media Theatre (Rent), Prince Music Theatre (Hair, Striking 12) and 11th Hour Theatre Co. (Reefer Madness, Avenue X). She also played Tasha on the first National Tour of The Backyardigans with Nickelodeon.

Georgia Cohen (Sandra) has toured nationally with The Acting Company/Guthrie Theater in Henry V and The Spy. NY credits: Twelfth Night (Fiasco Theater), Henry V (New Victory), various workshops/readings at PS 122, The Public, and Atlantic Theater Company. Regional theater: Postcards from Earth (Guthrie Experience), For a Barbarian Woman (workshop at The Long Wharf), A Christmas Carol (Trinity Repertory Theater), Don Carlos, Red Noses, Oleanna, Aunt Dan and Lemon, and The Crucible (The Gamm Theater). Georgia has taught drama/volunteered for 5 summers at Camp Amerikids. Georgia holds a B.A. in Theater Arts from Brown University and an M.F.A. in Acting from Brown/Trinity in Rhode Island.

Joe Guzmán (Martini) was last seen at PLTC in Yemaya's Belly and Julius Caesar. Recent shows include Philadelphia Theatre Company's The Light In The Piazza (Roy), Philadelphia Young Playwrights' Milk and Honey (Aba), Isis's Broken Glass (Hyman), Hedgerow Theatre's The Don (Marco), Maples Repertory Theatre's My Fair Lady (Henry Higgins) and Lantern Theatre's Hamlet (Claudius). Other roles include DR. Brown in Skin In Flames (InterAct Theatre), Gallo in Roosters (Theatre Exile), Victor in Private Lives (Arden Theatre), Cassius in Julius Caesar and the title character in Macbeth (Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival), Paul Gauguin in Inventing Van Gogh (Act II Playhouse) and Don Lope in Lovers and Executioners for which he received a Barrymore Award (also Lantern Theatre).

Lenny Haas (Dale Harding) was last seen at PLTC in King Lear. A member of the Resident Ensemble of Artists since 1988, he has performed in over 30 productions. Favorites include The Foreigner, Born Yesterday, The Importance of Being Earnest, Sister Carrie and The Fantasticks, for which he won a Barrymore Award. He has also appeared in two independent films: cellar and Lebanon, both directed by Ben Hickernell.
James Ijames (Aide Warren) is a Philadelphia based actor and playwright. James' body of acting work includes appearances in Temple Theater's production of August Wilson's Jitney, A Lesson Before Dying and The Seagull. His regional theater credits include: An Empty Plate at the Café du Grand Boeuf, James and the Giant Peach, Romeo and Juliet (Arden Theatre Company), Grey Gardens (Philadelphia Theatre Company), PROM (New Paradise Laboratories), Angels in America Part 1 and 2 (BCKSEET Productions), The Threshing Floor (Mauckingbird Theatre Company), Voices Underwater (Gas and Electric Arts), and Gossamer (PLTC). He also appeared in The Gloucester Stage Company's production of Ponies as Ken for which he received an Independent Reviewer's of New England Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Play. James is also a 2010 Finalist for the F. Otto Haas Emerging artist award. James is a native of Bessemer City, NC. He received a BA in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and a MFA in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. James resides in South Philadelphia.
Delanté G. Keys (Aide Williams) is a graduate of Arcadia University. He has been working as both an actor and teaching artist. He has taught with People's Light and Theatre Company, Arcadia University's Camp Shakespeare, and Philadelphia Young Playwrights. He has performed for Little Bunny Voodoo, Curio Theatre, BCKSEET, Allen's Lane Theater, InterACT Theatre Company, Azuka Theatre Company, New Paradise Laboratories, and the National Constitution Center.

Mark Lazar (Scanlon) is a company member celebrating his thirteenth season with PLTC. In addition to spending the last six holiday seasons in a dress for our annual Panto, last year's roles included Fool in King Lear and of course Dr. Watson to Peter DeLaurier's Holmes in this summer's sold-out run of The Secret of Sherlock Holmes. Up next at People's Light: our 2010 Holiday Panto, The Three Musketeers.
Aubie Merrylees (Billy Bibbit) graduated in May from Brown University, where he wrote and performed his own original solo show, Feet First, which he reprised at People's Light in July. Other performances at PLTC include: End Days, A Higher Place in Heaven, Arthur's Stone, A Christmas Carol, and The Secret Garden. Aubie has also appeared in a number of independent films; look for him next in Inkubus, a new movie starring Robert Englund and William Forsythe.

Paul L. Nolan (Ruckly) is returning to People's Light where he made his professional stage debut in The Iceman Cometh. His most recent stage appearance was in The Solid Gold Cadillac at The Studio Theatre in D.C. Stage credits from nearly 100 productions include: Endgame, The Hothouse, Hamlet, The Birthday Party, Richard III and Of Mice and Men. He received awards for Outstanding Performance from The Hollywood Drama Logue for his work in The Real Thing and Speed-The-Plow. Film and TV include: My One and Only, The Wire, Oceans 11 and Signs. For more information, please visit: www.paulnolanactor.com

Brandon A. Oakes (Chief Bromden) Ratsienhonoron, Mohawk from Akwesasne (The Land Where the Partridge Drum), Quebec/New York. He has performed and toured extensively throughout North America with Kanata Native Dance Theatre and Red Thunder. He attended the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto and then went on to study contemporary dance and acting at the Banff Centre for the Arts. He has been dancing and acting in several Contemporary/Traditional native fusion performances over the past 13 years. In working with The Native Earth Theatre Company of Toronto, he toured the one-man show Tales of an Urban Indian in 2007. He has also appeared in Into the West, Wonderfalls, Taking Chances, and also as the lead in the live dance Spirit the Seventh Fire, which has toured the U.S.

Joseph Michael O'Brien (Ellis/Technician) has been seen in People's Light's King Lear, Montgomery Theater's production of I Love My Wife, and 11th Hour Theatre Company's concert of Austentatious.

Pete Pryor (Dr. Spivey) directed Snow White and Cinderella at People's Light. The co-founder of 1812 productions, he is also the recipient of three Barrymore Awards, Road (Wilma Theater), Richard III (Lantern Theater Company) and most recently for Director of a Musical (Cinderella, People's Light & Theatre). He is the recipient of a Lunt Fontanne Fellowship. Pete is the artist in residence at the Pathway School.

Marcia Saunders (Nurse Ratched) has been a member of the PLTC Acting Company since 1976 and was most recently seen in The Emperor's New Clothes. Over the years she's enjoyed appearing in over 80 productions playing such roles as Amanda in The Glass Menagerie, Lady MacBeth in Macbeth and Claire in A Delicate Balance, for which she won the 2004 Barrymore award for Outstanding Supporting Actress. She also received a nomination for Best Actress in Man From Nebraska and numerous nominations for her roles in A View From the Bridge, A Flea in Her Ear, Hard Times, My Mother Said I Never Should, Molly's Delicious and most recently for Madame Pace in Six Characters in Search of an Author. Marcia worked with Jackson Gay at the Off-Broadway Atlantic Theatre Company in The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow.

Tom Teti (Cheswick) recently directed Shirley Valentine and starred as The Don at Hedgerow. He last appeared at People's Light in The Emperor's New Clothes, Stretch: A Fantasia and Snow White and has also performed in Cinderella, Treasure Island, and A Tale of Two Cities. He will also appear in the upcoming film The Dark Fields, featuring Bradley Cooper. This summer he appeared in Philadelphia 's PlayPenn Festival, as Bernie Madoff. He teaches acting at Hedgerow Theatre.

William Zielinski (Randle P. McMurphy) was last seen at People's Light in The Merchant of Venice. Bill has been living and performing in the Philadelphia area for the past 18 years. Regional Theatre includes: Shining City, Theatre Exile, The Seafarer, Arden Theatre, Eventide, The Denver Center Theatre, BUG, Theatre Exile, Arsenic and Old Lace, Baltimore Centerstage, To Kill A Mockingbird, Virginia Stage Company, and Trumbo, National TourFilm and TV includes: Future Weather, Night Catches Us, The Lovely Bones, Shot In The Heart, Hack, and The Wire.

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