Dissecting the Story

Pictured Above: The original character sketches for the costume of Chief Bromden in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST.

Pictured Above:  Jeremy takes a pic in the change room during a second costume fitting in the wardrobe department at the Alliance Theatre.

Day 3 of the rehearsal process has been productive. We are still getting through table work and dissecting the script as best we can before we actually get on our feet and start exploring in the rehearsal space. I have to admit that it's been a challenge in rehearsals with being so still onstage. In the play Chief Bromden is described as a character that comes in and out of a series of schizophrenic hallucinations.  It's a clinical viewpoint that I don't always agree with.  From a First Nations perspective I call these "hallucinations" more of dreamlike states where he communicates with the spirit of his deceased father.   Through his dreams he is being given signs of how his spirit is beginning to reawaken and break free from the binds of colonization that have kept him "small"  and inside a box for over a decade.  He also someone who has been displaced and therefore is struggling to reconnect with his sense of place and connection within creation.  Even though he appears catatonic to those around him who believe him to be simply "deaf and dumb" and unable to speak he is actually a very multi-dimensional character full of depth and quiet power.  He is a character who is constantly listening and therefore knows everyone's secrets.  The challenge as an actor is bringing a level of presence and history onstage for a character who has become so institutionalized within a state mental hospital that he has become indoctrinated by a colonial gaze and Euro-centric power that has seeked to assimilate and destroy the very cultural fabric of who he is an Indigenous person.  It's a lot to chew on for an actor.  I am confident that I will be able to delve further into truth and spirit of Chief Bromden as the rehearsals progress,  It's just a matter of trusting the process and knowing that have an extraordinary director and team of artists to support me.