Lighting One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was a fun challenge! The director and set designer had a vision in making the “nurse’s station” area to be more industrial and structured, and as the set moved away from that station, it began to deteriorate - to show how the minds of the patients in the hospital also became broken. We chose to mimic this feeling as well with the lights.

On top of flats along the back were bare bulbs that jutted out at odd angles. When Chief pulls up the box at the end of the show, and during other specialized moments, these lights flickered. The inside of the nurse’s station was lined with LED tape and colorized to fit the mood. The night scenes I colored the outside in blues and had a softer light on the stage - almost like “emergency lighting”. It was great fun to find the balance of structure and crazy and showcase that with lighting.

This production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was performed at the Evergreen Playhouse in April, 2022.