Arthur Boan is currently appearing as Chief Bromden in a major revival of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at The Old Vic, a bold new staging that places Bromden at the heart of Ken Kesey’s iconic story.
Directed by Clint Dyer, this London revival re-examines the classic novel through the lens of colonialism, identity and institutional power, with Boan’s performance bringing fresh depth to a character long silenced within the system.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest runs at The Old Vic until 23 May. Tickets and full details are available here
You’re starring in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at The Old Vic. What can you tell us about the show?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s 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’s an inspirational story filled with lots of laughs, tears, and a lot of really good acting.
One of the most unique aspects of our show is the fact that it’s set in the round, which gives the audience a very immersive experience. Additionally, the cast rarely leave the stage. We’re always present, and whenever we do leave, oftentimes we’re sat almost among the audience members, in character, watching the action and contributing to the story in that way.
Clint Dyer, our director, is quite intrigued by a heavy inclusion of projection, light and sound. It’s very prevalent in his style, so it’s a highly immersive and sensorily active experience for the audience.
It’s a huge opportunity for me to play a protagonist and narrator in a large West End event like this. I’ve played antagonists before, and supporting roles, but this is the first time that I’ve 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.
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?
For those who haven’t 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’s voice from the narrative.
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.
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.
The production explores colonialism and systems designed to silence dissent. How do those themes resonate with you personally and as a performer?
As a neurodivergent actor, I can’t think of something that is more relevant to my life than a system silencing me and trying to make me conform. I’ve always been drawn to roles where I can represent misunderstood characters, characters deemed as “other” or “less than”.
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.
I also have Métis 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.
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’m able to represent Indigenous cultures in this play, based on Kesey’s vision, a vision truly ahead of its time.
You have spoken about your Métis heritage and upbringing in the Moose Cree First Nation community. How have your culture, identity and lived experience informed your portrayal of Chief Bromden?
My 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.
It was filled with adventure and wilderness, dark, dark nights and bright, bright mornings, immense cold, far too many mosquitoes, and wolves, bears, moose – all of it.
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.
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.
Ken Kesey’s novel was first published almost 65 years ago. Why do you think One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest still feels so urgent and relevant today?
In 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 “kill the Indian to save the child”.
Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated in these institutions, where many were abused, sexually abused, kept without their parents’ consent, converted to Christianity, and exposed to drugs and alcohol. Many died. The estimated death toll ranges anywhere from 4,000 to 25,000.
When you talk about the relevance of Ken Kesey’s work today, I would say it is still very much needed.
I feel like the play and the book are so relevant because, as humanity, we haven’t quite learned the lessons that Kesey was trying to impart on us. It’s a call for social change.
As an individual, it’s 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, “fly over the cuckoo’s nest”, and live a happy authentic life that serves who you are, in a place where you are wanted.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?
This play doesn’t get done enough and it won’t be done in this way ever again, so come see it before you miss your chance!
