After missing the pre-production on Parker Players production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I was tapped to play Aide Warren. It has been a pleasure and an interesting creative challenge getting up-to-speed and into this character on short notice. It’s been a few years since I have been on stage so this is the perfect role to stretch my acting legs.
Richard's style is very fluid and he lets us make choices that feel natural when fleshing out our characters, mostly stepping in to keep the scene lubricated and keep pace. He’s helped me craft my supporting role; not being too shticky or too big in the background and drawing attention away from the central action. Working with this group of people has been a blast and an honor. Even though I wasn't there for the table read I was able to jump right into the fire. From day one everyone was willing to play and really feel like we are workers and patients in a mental institution. Richard mentioned in a rehearsal recently that he has seen these characters played like bumbling idiots and it definitely reads that way in the script. So it has been nice when another one of the characters ad libs and I can respond to that and bring a bit of nuance to the character, making that idiocy part of Ken Kesey’s crazed environment, rather than a feature of every person in the narrative.
Jarrett Passaglia plays Aide Warren