You\u2019re starring in One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest at The Old Vic. What can you tell us about the show?<\/strong><\/p>\nOne Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest is a play about an Indigenous man and his efforts, and inability, to be his authentic self in an environment that oppresses him. It\u2019s an inspirational story filled with lots of laughs, tears, and a lot of really good acting.<\/p>\n
One of the most unique aspects of our show is the fact that it\u2019s set in the round, which gives the audience a very immersive experience. Additionally, the cast rarely leave the stage. We\u2019re always present, and whenever we do leave, oftentimes we\u2019re sat almost among the audience members, in character, watching the action and contributing to the story in that way.<\/p>\n
Clint Dyer, our director, is quite intrigued by a heavy inclusion of projection, light and sound. It\u2019s very prevalent in his style, so it\u2019s a highly immersive and sensorily active experience for the audience.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a huge opportunity for me to play a protagonist and narrator in a large West End event like this. I\u2019ve played antagonists before, and supporting roles, but this is the first time that I\u2019ve had the chance to really delve into a character like this. Especially one that means so much to me and to what I believe in, in terms of what stories I want to tell, the kinds of people I want to represent, and the kinds of questions I want the audience to ask.<\/p>\n
This production re-centres Chief Bromden as the core protagonist. How has that shift shaped the way you approach the role and the story being told on stage?<\/strong><\/p>\nFor those who haven\u2019t read the book, the novel and play are entirely told from the point of view of Chief Bromden. This is unlike the 1975 Oscar-winning film with Jack Nicholson, which largely removed Bromden\u2019s voice from the narrative.<\/p>\n
I was very excited to learn that this production would be going back to the roots of the book by focusing on Chief Bromden as the narrator and protagonist. I was given the opportunity to read the book for the workshops and was very aware, even at the audition stage, that this was the way Clint wanted to focus the piece.<\/p>\n
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With the perspective shifting back to Chief Bromden, I think the story is heightened and more accurate to the emotional truth of the piece, and to how Ken Kesey, the author of the novel, wanted the story to be told.<\/p>\n
The production explores colonialism and systems designed to silence dissent. How do those themes resonate with you personally and as a performer?<\/strong><\/p>\nAs a neurodivergent actor, I can\u2019t think of something that is more relevant to my life than a system silencing me and trying to make me conform. I\u2019ve always been drawn to roles where I can represent misunderstood characters, characters deemed as \u201cother\u201d or \u201cless than\u201d.<\/p>\n
The disenfranchised, the internally wounded. Those are the kinds of parts that intrigue me the most, because the downtrodden and the beaten up by society are the ones that I think need the most representation and visibility.<\/p>\n
I also have M\u00e9tis heritage. Colonialism is the reason there has been such a complicated history between different Indigenous cultures and settlers from countries such as France, Britain, America and Spain.<\/p>\n
The character of Bromden lived his childhood with his tribe at Celilo Falls, before The Dalles Dam flooded the falls in 1957 and washed his village away. I feel incredibly honoured and proud that I\u2019m able to represent Indigenous cultures in this play, based on Kesey\u2019s vision, a vision truly ahead of its time.<\/p>\n
You have spoken about your M\u00e9tis heritage and upbringing in the Moose Cree First Nation community. How have your culture, identity and lived experience informed your portrayal of Chief Bromden?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy ancestry is Prairie Cree, but I grew up in the Moose Cree First Nation community of Moose Factory in Northern Ontario. It was a wild upbringing and was, and will always be, the freest and happiest time of my life.<\/p>\n
It was filled with adventure and wilderness, dark, dark nights and bright, bright mornings, immense cold, far too many mosquitoes, and wolves, bears, moose \u2013 all of it.<\/p>\n
Chief Bromden is a character very in tune with nature. I think my upbringing, and my experiences of being so close to nature and the outdoors, have been immensely important in feeling aligned with what Bromden is going through.<\/p>\n
I moved from Moose Factory at age ten. He was also taken out of his free space as a child, leaving his home at Celilo Falls at the same age, before being incarcerated in a sterile environment where he has to conform and fit into a machine-like system. A place where no one can relate to the core of his being.<\/p>\n
Ken Kesey\u2019s novel was first published almost 65 years ago. Why do you think One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest still feels so urgent and relevant today?<\/strong><\/p>\nIn North America we have something known as the residential school system, which officially closed in Canada in 1996, not that long ago. These institutions were designed to \u201ckill the Indian to save the child\u201d.<\/p>\n
Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated in these institutions, where many were abused, sexually abused, kept without their parents\u2019 consent, converted to Christianity, and exposed to drugs and alcohol. Many died. The estimated death toll ranges anywhere from 4,000 to 25,000.<\/p>\n
When you talk about the relevance of Ken Kesey\u2019s work today, I would say it is still very much needed.<\/p>\n
I feel like the play and the book are so relevant because, as humanity, we haven\u2019t quite learned the lessons that Kesey was trying to impart on us. It\u2019s a call for social change.<\/p>\n
As an individual, it\u2019s impossible to fight and defeat a system that is designed for oppression. All you can do is be true to yourself, and try to break out, \u201cfly over the cuckoo\u2019s nest\u201d, and live a happy authentic life that serves who you are, in a place where you are wanted.<\/p>\n
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest?<\/strong><\/p>\nThis play doesn\u2019t get done enough and it won\u2019t be done in this way ever again, so come see it before you miss your chance!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arthur Boan is currently appearing as Chief Bromden in a major revival of One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[258284,748,258285,258286,393,4884,258287,257,39191,184994,26251,16,15,258288],"class_list":{"0":"post-921034","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-arthur-boan","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-chief-bromden","11":"tag-clint-dyer","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-ken-kesey","15":"tag-london","16":"tag-london-theatre","17":"tag-one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest","18":"tag-the-old-vic","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-west-end-interviews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116474598830548303","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}