.jpg)
A stunning production of the play of the novel that spawned the Oscar-winning film.
I saw this at the Grove Theatre in Eastbourne on 22nd August 2026; it was a production by the in-house company.
Overheard audience reactions ranged from ‘the best thing I’ve ever seen at the Grove’ to ‘one of the best things I’ve seen in the theatre’ and if I couldn’t quite agree with either of these, it was certainly very very good indeed.
Unusually for the Grove, the play was performed in the semi-round, with the audience sitting on two sides of the performance area with the sound and lighting box being used for the Nurse’s station. This meant that some of the audience, including myself, were very close to the actors which fostered a sense of intimacy with the drama.
The play, like the originating novel (which I review here), set in a lunatic asylum, is fundamentally about the conflict between individuality and freedom represented by the rebellious new inmate Randle McMurphy with conforming to a controlling society represented by Nurse Ratched. This is played out on several levels: the overt critique of mental health practices of the time, which involved methods of coercion and control such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and lobotomy; as a metaphor for the political climate of the USA which was just recovering from McCarthyism at the time the novel was written (1962); and as a metaphor for the way religions attempt to control people through the imposition of rules said to be the good of all. This production emphasised the religious metaphor. But by far the most overt metaphor of the novel, included in this production, is the idea that men are emasculated by controlling women. Randle is the archetype of the free and adventurous male, treating all women as sex objects and forcing a showdown over watching sport on TV; the stuttering virgin Billy Bibbit is the image of the emasculated male; Nurse Ratched, described as a ‘ball-cutter’ and aided by the off-stage Billy’s mother, is the voice of dominant, controlling respectability, her nurse’s uniform masking and constraining her sexuality until it is ripped open by Randle in one of the climactic moments of the play.
This might have been an acceptable narrative in 1962 but these days it has been revealed as horribly misogynistic. The fundamental misogyny of the novel did not seem to be toned down in any way by this production and this made me feel very uncomfortable.
The acting was remarkable. Not one of the ensemble cast gave a weak performance but the leads deserve special mention. Claire Bolt, who has impressed me in many Grove productions, played Nurse Ratched, as calm, composed and inscrutable as a Stepford Wife, majestically sinister. Leigh Hollidge was a hyperactive bundle of joy, rebellion and energy; I hope to see him more often. Joshua Ion was the epitome of Billy Bibbit, an outstanding performance. Camber Sands, a Grove regular, was superb as Dale Harding, a difficult ‘straight man/ essential narrator’ role. Finally, Steve Scott, another key member of the Grove company, was magnificent as Chief Bromden, the elective mute whose soliloquies set the scene.
Special mention must also go to the director, Maurice Thorogood, who has brought out the very best in these talented performers and given the audience a thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Overheard audience reactions ranged from ‘the best thing I’ve ever seen at the Grove’ to ‘one of the best things I’ve seen in the theatre’ and if I couldn’t quite agree with either of these, it was certainly very very good indeed.
Unusually for the Grove, the play was performed in the semi-round, with the audience sitting on two sides of the performance area with the sound and lighting box being used for the Nurse’s station. This meant that some of the audience, including myself, were very close to the actors which fostered a sense of intimacy with the drama.
The play, like the originating novel (which I review here), set in a lunatic asylum, is fundamentally about the conflict between individuality and freedom represented by the rebellious new inmate Randle McMurphy with conforming to a controlling society represented by Nurse Ratched. This is played out on several levels: the overt critique of mental health practices of the time, which involved methods of coercion and control such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and lobotomy; as a metaphor for the political climate of the USA which was just recovering from McCarthyism at the time the novel was written (1962); and as a metaphor for the way religions attempt to control people through the imposition of rules said to be the good of all. This production emphasised the religious metaphor. But by far the most overt metaphor of the novel, included in this production, is the idea that men are emasculated by controlling women. Randle is the archetype of the free and adventurous male, treating all women as sex objects and forcing a showdown over watching sport on TV; the stuttering virgin Billy Bibbit is the image of the emasculated male; Nurse Ratched, described as a ‘ball-cutter’ and aided by the off-stage Billy’s mother, is the voice of dominant, controlling respectability, her nurse’s uniform masking and constraining her sexuality until it is ripped open by Randle in one of the climactic moments of the play.
This might have been an acceptable narrative in 1962 but these days it has been revealed as horribly misogynistic. The fundamental misogyny of the novel did not seem to be toned down in any way by this production and this made me feel very uncomfortable.
The acting was remarkable. Not one of the ensemble cast gave a weak performance but the leads deserve special mention. Claire Bolt, who has impressed me in many Grove productions, played Nurse Ratched, as calm, composed and inscrutable as a Stepford Wife, majestically sinister. Leigh Hollidge was a hyperactive bundle of joy, rebellion and energy; I hope to see him more often. Joshua Ion was the epitome of Billy Bibbit, an outstanding performance. Camber Sands, a Grove regular, was superb as Dale Harding, a difficult ‘straight man/ essential narrator’ role. Finally, Steve Scott, another key member of the Grove company, was magnificent as Chief Bromden, the elective mute whose soliloquies set the scene.
Special mention must also go to the director, Maurice Thorogood, who has brought out the very best in these talented performers and given the audience a thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Comments
Post a Comment