I was invited to attend a dress rehearsal of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by my pal Kevin Tracy, who played the role of R.P. McMurphy, most famously portrayed by Jack Nickolson in the 1975 movie of the same name. There is still a chance to see this Country Players production live at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls, Massachusetts on Friday April 18th and Saturday April 19th, so I’m going to crank this review out with considerably less care than the cast put into the production itself, in the hopes that somebody out there might be motivated to check out a memorable local production.

By way of explanation, there is not much to say about a play that is so famously rendered both in novel film. It’s been so many years since I saw either that I really have no basis of comparison. We can look upon this story in many ways, I prefer to think of it as a meditation on the question of “crazy” in a clinical sense versus what we might define as crazy in a happier sense, the devil-may-care of someone who knows how to push the envelope enough to make life interesting, regardless of the consequences. Perhaps Kesey’s message is that there is always a consequence to living beyond the letter of the the institutions that are supposedly there to look out for us, but perhaps tame us fundamentally, in this case, by giving us lobotomies.

If anything, this play runs the risk of losing such a message by appearing dated - after all, no one is fond of lobotomies these days - and are they really necessary when designer drugs are practically doled out in large bowls outside of doctor’s offices? Perhaps the repressive nature of the institution McMurphy finds himself in makes this play seem like a period piece, but I didn’t trip on that during the performance itself. It is a credit to the cast and crew that the emotional authenticity of the performances sucks you in. However pre-fabricated it might seem to put ourselves inside of a mental ward where a belligerent protagonist rubs up against the clichés of strait jackets and electro-shock therapy, it’s all about the cast, and they showed a versatility of comic and tragic that you might not expect from your neighborhood production.

Technically, I attended a dress rehearsal, but the only difference between this and the actual performance was the director’s yippy little dog, which I suspect will not be present if you choose to attend one of the actual remaining shows. From the first appearance of Chief Bromden (the supposedly “deaf mute” Indian), I knew they got the casting just right, and though Kevin Tracy’s character got to say my favorite line (“What’s so therapeutic about Lawrence Welk?”) this was truly an ensemble performance with no weak links. The set is effectively simple; what is more complex is the physical arrangements of the characters themselves, which are orchestrated to perfection, no doubt through a series of mind-numbing rehearsals. But the effort paid off.

Though the ending of this story is pretty well known, and not exactly uplifting, the play itself is not a downer. Maybe it’s the soul these actors ante up onstage, maybe it’s Kesey’s notion that you have to keep laughing in the face of your predicament, but this is an evening of substance for anyone who wants their entertainment live and not on DVD.

I don’t want to single Kevin Tracy out too much, as this gig is about the entire troupe, but for this play to work, his character must come across as larger than life, if only because in Kesey’s world, the brashness of such men sparks the rest of us out of our stupor. Sane-versus-insane matters less than inspired-versus-passive, and if passivity becomes entrenched either through surrender or subjugation, we should be put out of our misery, which would probably qualify as a plot spoiler if everyone didn’t know this plot already. At any rate, Kevin pulls it off.

As a bonus, you get to hear the Pink Floyd classic “Dark Side of the Moon” on a surprisingly decent sound system. The only critical comment I will make is that I wouldn’t want the play to be any longer. There should be a law in community theater that the production can never be longer than the relative comfort of the chairs you are sitting in. On the other hand, that’s no excuse not to attend this play if you have a chance, so grab a nice meal beforehand and settle in for the ride.