Flying in the Face of Authority

It’s a classic confrontation: the rebel versus authority.

In one corner of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” stands Randle P. McMurphy, that grinning anarchist made famous by Jack Nicholson in the movie version of the play and novel. In the other glares Nurse Ratched, the power-loving conformist known as Big Nurse.

The tension is high when these two butt heads in the Prism Production’s staging at the Curtis Theatre. Director Gary Krinke gets our attention by never letting the focus stray far from their struggle.

What’s surprising is that this show plays out as well as it does. Dale Wasserman’s drama, based on Ken Kesey’s very popular counterculture book, is obviously a remnant of the ‘60s. Its anti-establishment sentiments come at you in overly emotional bursts that can feel manipulative, sometimes even mawkish.

Those problems aren’t solved here, but the story does unfold vividly. When McMurphy (Brett Tabor) first appears on the mental ward in an unnamed state hospital in the Pacific Northwest, it’s clear he wants to turn his fellow patients and their tightly controlled world upside down. As they begin to respond, Ratched (Cynthia Ryanen) will do anything to keep the status quo.

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Tabor’s McMurphy is not a pleasant dude. He’s loud, pushy and a bit scary, a guy you might meet in a bar and wonder how long it would take before he picked a fight. Tabor, with his car-alarm laugh, can be annoying, but you can see why the inmates, so different from him, would follow McMurphy.

Big Nurse’s temperament is as rigid as McMurphy’s is wild, which Ryanen conveys in quiet ways. She puts everybody under her thumb by exposing their weaknesses, and Ryanen presents Ratched as someone who may not even realize how cruel she can be.

Director Krinke is unable to avoid the usual problems that come with the band of merry nuts McMurphy leads. As with other productions (and even the 1975 movie), the inmates are often presented as caricatures instead of fully developed men with severe problems.

The most obvious exceptions here are Ryan Holihan as Billy Bibbit and Robb Tracy as Dale Harding. Both bring a little humanity--along with the tics--to their roles.

Everything takes place in the hospital’s almost all-white day room, a set created by Imagination Productions. It’s a clean, competent set with one smart innovation. Tipped to slant at about a 10-degree angle, it suggests imbalance, a telling symbol of this cockeyed world.

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* “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Curtis Theatre, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea. 8 p.m. tonight and 2 p.m. Sunday. $7-$17. Ends Sunday. (714) 990-7722. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes.

Chris Desoto: Chief Bromden

Cynthia Ryanen: Nurse Ratched

Robb Tracy: Dale Harding

Ryan Holihan: Billy Bibbit

Randy Rardon: Scanlon

John Francis: Cheswick

Michael Aparicio: Martini

Brett Tabor: Randle P. McMurphy

Katherine Azarmi: Candy

A Prism Production’s production of Dale Wasserman’s play, adapted from Ken Kesey’s novel. Directed by Gary Krinke. Set: Imagination Productions. Lighting: Salvatore Brezarich and Bradley Enochs. Costumes: Mary Engwall. Sound: Tim Engwall. Stage manager: Nathan Jones.