Assistant Director

In 1959, in the midst of a deep transition in the way that America saw psychology and psychiatry, Ken Kesey peeled back the door to a chronic ward and released a slew of weirdos, wackadoos, and a few wonderful people to the outside world. At first, things start out well enough, with order and balance reigning supreme in the ward. But as things progress, and the patients realize the potential they all have always had inside of them. To challenge the social norms the doctors and nurses placed on these patients was unheard of. It was met with strong resistance, in the forms of electroshock therapy and lobotomies. It's a story of mental health, power, control, and the freedom to be oneself. It's as inspirational as it is tragic and sheds a light on the human condition. We may all very well be stuck in our own preconceptions and conditions that were found in Kesey's mental hospital, but this is a story that reminds us time and time again that we can fight back against that no matter what the circumstances may be.