His originally voluntary imprisonment in the clinic slowly turns into a true hell from which there is no escape. From here, a story of the abuse of power, manipulation of human consciousness, about succumbing to fear and the desire to resist pressure, and curing one’s own complexes through torturing those who are weaker unfolds.

The American writer Ken Kesey, a member of the so-called Beat Generation, who is often called one of the fathers of American postmodern literature, published the novel “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1962 and it became, practically immediately, a worldwide bestseller. This is, among other things, demonstrated by the fact that a mere year after the novel was published, i.e. in 1963, this work of art was dramatised by Dale Wasserman. A few years later, Kesey’s story became literally immortal thanks to the legendary film version by Miloš Forman from 1975. So far, the Olomouc audience has had a chance to enjoy this performance only once, in 1987. Wasserman’s “Cuckoos” does not represent a rewrite of Forman’s film, but a unique and particularly impressive dramatisation of the book, which provides the director with complete creative and visual freedom.

It would be hard to find, in contemporary drama theatre, a more juicy and complex opportunity for all the male members of our department, especially with a negative female character to boot. The direction of the production will be entrusted to Pavel Khek, the art principal of the Klicpera Theatre in Hradec Králové, where he is mostly remembered for his production of “The Untouchables” (Nedotknutelní).