Ken Kesey published his first book 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest' in 1962. Set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital, the narrative serves as a study of institutional processes and the human mind. The novel was adapted in to a play originally for Broadway and then off Broadway by Dale Wasserman in 1963. Bo Goldman adapted the novel into a film of the same title in 1975, directed by Milos Forman it won five Academy Awards.
Ken Kesey started writing the novel in 1959, when he published it in 1962, America was in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement that brought about deep changes to the way psychology and psychiatry were managed and viewed. The novel is a direct product of Ken Kesey's time working the night shift as an orderly in a mental health facility.
The title of the novel, play, and Film actually comes from a nursery rhyme:
'Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn,
Apple seed and apple thorn,
Wire, briar, limber lock
One flew East
One flew west
and one flew over the cuckoo's nest'
Whitehaven and District Amateur Operatic Society's first home was the Theatre Royal on Roper Street Whitehaven long since demolished.
The Theatre Royal opened in around 1769. It was rebuilt in 1909 to the plans of architect Albert Winstanley. The stage was 16 feet deep and there were five dressing rooms. In 1925, it was operated by Grand Empire Theatres Ltd, based in Glasgow. The films and variety acts were booked at the Grand Theatre, Lancaster. It seems to have screened its last silent film in around 1931, and was never equipped for sound films. Variety shows continued for a while.
The Theatre had been shut down in 1930 because it did not conform to statutory regulations, mainly with regard to the exits. The licence was not renewed.
The old theatre was put up for auction at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, but withdrawn after only one bid of £1,300. Seven years later it was acquired by the Whitehaven News, who used it as a store. Then it was demolished and the site redeveloped as a printing works, but it subsequently lay empty after the paper was bought by The Cumberland News Group and all printing operations were moved to either Carlisle or Lillyhall.
