[one flew over the cuckoo's nest - 2004]
 

As the six to eight weeks you spend on a theater production go by, you tend to get immersed in the thing. This play took us to new levels of immersion. It's set, of course, in an insane asylum in the 1950's, and in order to properly convey the oppressive hospital setting, director Keith Dixon of Baton Rouge Little Theater started at the beginning. During rehearsals, we wore sweats to mimic hospital clothing. We studied various forms of antiquated hospital treatment like lithium and electro-shock, and found out some of them aren't so antiquated. We read Ken Kesey's novel.

During the run of the show, we performed a half-hour unscripted preshow, living life as usual in the asylum. Playgoers always entered quietly, thinking they were late. And strangely, the cast segregated itself into patients and hospital staff backstage; we were never sure if it was more than just the entrances being on different sides of the set. In retrospect, I'm not entirely sure this production wasn't all a devious psychological experiment. But hey, actors are all crazy anyway... we were better prepared than the audience.

P.S. Keep your eye on Nurse Ratched down there. That's Sharon, and we'll see her again a few shows from now in Lend Me A Tenor...