THEATER REVIEW:Strong ensemble bolsters ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’

We all know, thanks to Jack Nicholson’s Oscar-winning performance in the movie, the throbbing power of Randle P. McMurphy in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” When we experience the stage version, we should be equally impressed by the quality of the rest of the “loonies” surrounding him.

There’s no doubt that Michael J. Keeney is the “bull goose loony” in the Huntington Beach Playhouse’s excellent production, but he shares the stage with some dynamic talents, who together form an impressive ensemble. Director Carl DaSilva has mounted a rich, fully realized account of Dale Wasserman’s stage adaptation of Ken Kesey’s brutally insightful novel.

McMurphy, who finagles his way into a state mental hospital to escape the drudgery of state prison work, is a larger-than-life character, and Keeney hits the ground running in an all-stops-out, robust portrayal. The actor explores all the facets of his dominating character, the subtleties as well as the bombast.

Playing his principal antagonist, the hospital’s dictatorial “big nurse,” Holly Jeanne also explores more than just surface menace. Though she initially appears a bit young to enact a woman in such a position of power, Jeanne employs solid vocal strength to enforce her authority.

Among the motley collection of patients, some there of their own accord, Robert McCullar is outstanding as the hulking Chief Bromden, a supposedly mute Indian who becomes McMurphy’s confidante — his fourth stint in the role. Michael Corcoran also impresses as the mild-mannered intellectual Harding, the soft-spoken leader of the patients.

As the stuttering youth with an outsized fear of his mother’s wrath, Matthew Dougherty elicits both giggles and pity. Nick D. Pappas is a hoot as the schizophrenic Martini, while Ray Galindo and Paul McDade richly interpret two other patients.

The playhouse’s production backs down only on one issue — the Ruckley problem.

As written, the catatonic Ruckley (here played by Richard Dambert) has only one oft-repeated three-word phrase that begins with an expletive and ends with “ … them all.” Here, his dialogue has been altered to “shut up,” hardly as effective.

Actress Alicia Wells is seen in two highly contrasting roles — as the cowering Nurse Flinn, constantly crossing herself, and as the high-kicking party girl Sandra, whom McMurphy enlists for his midnight romp in the hospital day room.

Hospital aides Ismael Reyes and Lito Cabra provide constant thorns in the patients’ sides, while Paul L. Arnold skillfully underplays the ineffectual doctor. Kirk D. Brown is fine as the tippling night worker and Carolyn Kelly blatantly swipes her scenes as McMurphy’s main squeeze.

Set designer Larry Shaughnessy’s grim and grimy hospital day room is an ideal backdrop, enriched by scenic artist and set dresser Andrew Otero, who also designed the impressive costumes. Dallas Lucero contributes some “shocking” lighting effects that may have playgoers gripping their seats.

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is a play brimming with tantalizing acting challenges, most of which are splendidly conquered in the Huntington Beach Playhouse’s riveting ensemble production.