One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

The free-spirited criminal Randle Patrick McMurphy fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental institution rather than a prison work farm. There he clashes with the tyrannical Nurse Ratched, whose rigid control over the ward has crushed the spirits of the patients. McMurphy's rebellious energy inspires the men to reclaim their dignity, but the institution's power to punish defiance proves devastating. Dale Wasserman's stage adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel is a searing indictment of institutional authority and a celebration of the human spirit.