World Stage Theatre Company: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Tulsa Performing Arts Center, Liddy Doenges Theatre
September, 18, 2026 (performances run through September 27)
Last weekend, World Stage Theatre Company opened its ninth season, centered on “Stories of the Mind and Other Matters,” with the Tony Award-winning play One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Dale Wasserman’s script adapts the 1962 novel by Ken Kesey, which gives an intimate look into the lives of patients at a mental health hospital and their power struggle with one of their main healthcare providers, Nurse Ratched.
Inspired by Kesey’s time working as an orderly at a mental health facility in the 1950s, the story reflects the growing support for deinstitutionalization across the country at that time, and takes a strong stance that the care available at a state institution causes more harm than good. In our current post-COVID world, where mental health matters are more openly discussed and science has vastly improved psychiatry practice and treatment, it’s an oddly detached world to visit.
This tone is present as soon as you walk into the theater. A comprehensive set by Rich Goss and Silverwolf Productions transports you directly into the day room of the state mental hospital—not necessarily sterile but definitely devoid of individuality and warmth, pointing toward the central power struggle of the play.
Dionne Lambert’s direction works well with Wasserman’s text to settle the audience into this story. With hair tucked behind his ears and a tall posture, Chief Bromden (Chase Parker) opens the show with the first of his many obscure monologues. Then he retreats into himself as the orderlies (Brayson Pahukoa and Ibrahim Buyckes) threaten brute force, Nurse Flinn (Esme Davis) dodges potentially awkward situations, and Nurse Ratched (Kathryn Hartney) directs them all with a calm, controlled demeanor. It’s an opening that helps the audience quickly understand the kind of care provided here and the potential conflicts on the horizon.
And then, we meet the Ward 6 patients and get thrust into this world with no turning back. Zero Steiert, Braydon Curtiss, Stephen Gehly, Matthew Gwinner, Gary Marshall, and Mauro Quiroga bring completely unique elements to this group dynamic—postures, gestures, tics, trauma, and terrors. With so many bold and specific personalities, you’d think they would clash and distract from the main action, but they all fit perfectly, ebbing and flowing together in a fantastic storytelling unit.