Three actors hold keys to unlock story's power One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'

The action of a Ken Kesey 'Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest "focuses on a battle of wills between Randle McMurphy, a convict who thinks that a trip to the psychiatric hospital will be an easy way to overcome their pain, and Nurse Ratched, who manages service with a quiet smile and an iron fist. But somehow, the main character is the head Bromden, patients oldest of the pupil, which serves (in the novel and to a lesser extent in the game) as the narrator of the story. His relationship with McMurphy and the arches of contrasting fortunes are at the heart of the matter.

Power Mac, Big Nurse and chef - the characters are also known - is the key to power history. Here's a look at the actors responsible for bringing them to life on stage.

PJ Sosko (McMurphy)

Director Rose Riordan said that in casting someone like her Mac "was looking for someone who had a degree of charisma and testosterone. The things that PJ is that it is a bit more larger than the natural life. Mac is a bit sweet heart a thug, and I think PJ has some of them. "

Soska lives in New York, where he did work in theater and television (including a nasty role in one of the last episodes of New York in the "Law & Order" franchise). But he has previously worked at Portland Center Stage in the lead role in a stage adaptation of the masterpiece of 2008 other Kesey, "Sometimes a Great Notion," and he is happy "to return here and make another character in the canon. This is a very small weapon, and I did today. "

"Honestly, the guy I would trust anyone to do it correctly. Entertainer Mac, I am the entertainer. I do not come from a place is (a jerk). I do not know, I think I 'm a good egg. And I'm here to tell a story. "

You might think Sosko has a difficult job to get into a role made famous by Jack Nicholson in the film Oscar cut. But if he says he has always admired the performance from Nicholson, he did not think about it.

"There is a free spirit in the Mac that everyone can relate to. Jack has his version and I have mine. You can not play without an attitude Mac devil-may-care. And if there was a good devil in me."



Gretchen Corbett (Nurse Ratched)



"All the time, when I tell people what role I do, I say:" Wow! "Corbett says." It occupies an important place. My challenge to what comes to her as if she is a real person. And I have to, because there is truth in the book. "

In fact, Kesey kept his story is pure evil. She has seen through the eyes of others, which is a symbol of unchangeable power and oppressive control. Therefore, Corbett, a respected veteran of the Portland scene, playing the woman behind the facade still smiling formidable.

"Every Nurse Ratched does the same thing," she said. "But my nurse Ratched. I know I do not look like the woman described in the book ... but I have my own backpack with small thoughts about it."




Tim Sampson (Chief Bromden)

As bad as the characters McMurphy and Ratched is, Riordan says he has never bothered to find a suitable actor convincing in those roles. But Bromden, rising half-Indian, which will focus on the story fit the theme, was another matter. "It 's so special, what is its size, its age."

Tim Sampson, it also has links to specific functions. A member of the Muskogee tribe of Oklahoma, has not only played the role before Sampson (along with Gary Sinise in the Steppenwolf Theatre production that took place in Chicago, London and on Broadway), but his father, Will Sampson, also played role in the 1975 movie.

father-son connection is crucial. Sampson was an eldest son, acting and stunt work, and Tim Sampson believes the key to understanding the love of Chief Bromden figure was his father, whose humiliation was the reason for the mental breakdown of his head.

When you run on Broadway, Sampson recalls, came to recognize the power of the history of messages that are at least partly related to the importance of continuity with nature, family and culture. "One night, this great man came to me after the show, crying, and said." Tonight I'm going back to the hotel and call my father. "

This link is part of what it means to be mentally healthy, "says Sampson." My father always says: "I always know where you come from, who you are and where you're going."