Little Red Productions. Bakehouse Theatre. 18 Dec 2013.
Little Red Productions has arrived on the scene in a starburst of youthful promise.
Tackling the sturm und drang of Ken Kesey and Dale Wasseman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is nothing less than an ensemble of eager teens with their drama teacher. But theirs is no mere school production; this is a very earnest and focused group. Passionate, even.
Hibbert has done some bold adaptation of the play, punctuating it with musical routines which tick the boxes of youthful appeal. Indeed, the play's opening musical scene is so confrontingly loud that one fears one is going half mad, which certainly sets the mood for a play set in an asylum.
The Bakehouse stage is framed in white sheets and the set consists of a medicine cabinet and a few white milk cartons. The costumes are white and white rules the night - very effectively indeed, climaxing in the patients' rebellion when medical records fly through the air achieving quite a spectacular white. It's one of those ace theatrical moments one knows one won't forget.
The characters are introduced mincing on one by one for the ward medication ritual and thus, each actor can convey the idiosyncrasies of diverse mental conditions - Olivia Cirocco as the quasi-catatonic Chief clutching her mop, Sean Conneely all twitch and stutter as the nervous Bibbit, David Sandison, negativity in a dressing gown, Claire Robertson mugging madly as the infantile Martini and Bridie Rawson, a quivering nervous wreck as Cheswick. Rawson's portrayal is particularly compelling.
McMurphy arrives in the group fresh from court where, to escape prison, he has feigned insanity. This is the character famously played by Jack Nicholson in the film - a hard act to follow but young Aled McEwen gives it a fearless manic edge. If this character is catalyst to anarchical chaos, it is Nurse Ratched who is core and cohesion to the play. Nicole Laughton captures her beautifully as an ice queen, contained and controlling. She's an actress to watch.
The Little Red ensemble is slightly uneven in skills but the performances grow on one and by curtain time, a dark play has shown that there is light on the horizon so far as the next generation of Adelaide actors is concerned.
Samela Harris
When: Closed
Where: Bakehouse Theatre
Bookings: Closed
