Jason Donovan says “a lot of roads” have led him to Randle McMurphy, the charming, unruly psychiatric patient he will play in an upcoming stage production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
asserted
he → say → Nest
“I’ve never worked so hard on a script in my entire life,” he says, speaking from Manchester, in the midst of his run as Coach Bolton in the stage production of High School Musical.
asserted
he → work → Musical
McMurphy is a departure from the parts Donovan is best known for and he swings between excitement and apprehension.
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he → know → excitement
He is deliberately steering clear of studying Jack Nicholson’s Oscar-winning take on the character in the 1975 film, but he’s delved deeply into Ken Kesey’s novel.
asserted
he → steer → novel
His review of the book, like most of his conversation, is candid, blunt and ends with a laugh.
asserted
review → end → laugh
“I’ve read it.
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I → read → it
I reread it.
asserted
I → reread → it
[But] I sort of just threw caution to the wind.
asserted
I → throw → wind
So I went, well, let’s go.
asserted
’s → go → ?
You know, no risk, no magic.
asserted
You → know → ?
I think it’s the fear of the amount of work in it, the amount of dialogue.
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it → think → dialogue
It’s a monster.”
asserted
It → ’ → ?
The script now resonates more on a personal level following the death of his beloved father Terence, also an actor, in July, at the age of 90.
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script → resonate → 90
I sort of channel a little bit of my father in that role.
asserted
I → channel → role
So there’s a lot of roads that lead to this moment for me.”
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that → ’ → me
Though he has lived in the UK now for longer than he ever lived in Australia, Donovan’s accent hasn’t changed.
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accent → live → Australia
He speaks with a mixture of deep thought, candour, poetic turns of phrase and enthusiastic swearing.
asserted
He → speak → phrase
His conversation is liberally sprinkled with “you know?” and “do you know what I mean?” and when a reflection catches him off guard he happily punctuates with “f---!”
asserted
he → sprinkle → f---
On the atmosphere of Australia compared to his adopted home, he says: “Everything [in Australia] is in focus.
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Everything → compare → focus
It’s in focus.
asserted
It → ’ → focus
Here, it’s like a Turner painting.
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it → ’ → painting
Then: “QF1 – you know I’ve been on that f---ing plane back and forth more than probably most people.”
asserted
I → know → people
Later, he finishes off his carefully considered dissection of the themes of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – conformity and rebellion, the danger of institutions, freedom and redefining sanity, and the impact of the story being set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War – with a self-deprecating “blahdy blah”.
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he → finish → blah
He first heard whispers that this show would happen the last time he performed in Melbourne – in 2023, when he was playing Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show.
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he → hear → Show
This time, stepping onto the Athenaeum stage will have a different resonance, with his father having also performed at the theatre – for Breaker Morant in 1978 and Certified Male as part of the Melbourne Festival in 1999.
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father → step → 1999
“The whole thing has, not weight, but it’s a wonderful bookend, really.”
asserted
it → have → weight
Set in a psychiatric institution in the early 1960s, the story follows McMurphy as he challenges authority figures holding up a broken system.
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he → Set → system
“McMurphy is a trailblazer for all his flaws,” says Donovan.
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Donovan → say → flaws
Elements of Terence Donovan will make it into his performance in November.
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Elements → make → November
“I was very excited for my dad to see it,” he says.
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he → see → it
“You know with Dad you never quite knew somewhat what version you were going to get sometimes …
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you → know → version
he was feisty, strong, [and] had a sort of controlled madness about him.
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he → have → him
He embraced life – he went for it.”
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he → embrace → it
Donovan knew that his father would be remembered for his acting.
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father → know → acting
But in a career that started in 1960, his work spilled not just across the stage and screen, but into what lay underneath it all.
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what → start → it
“There’s a great picture of my dad holding a coffin,” he says.
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he → ’ → coffin
The photograph is black and white, and in it Terence Donovan is standing next to fellow actor Gerard Kennedy, the two of them leading a procession of pallbearers through the streets of Melbourne.
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two → stand → Melbourne
Taken in April 1975, this isn’t an image of a funeral; it’s a protest.
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it → take → funeral
Inside the coffin were rolls of film, spilling out from under the lid.
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rolls → spill → lid
The procession was made up of some of the biggest names in entertainment of the time, who had all come together to fight for mandated local content quotas to protect Australian jobs on the small screen.
asserted
who → make → screen
…and 74 more, not listed.
The Aporia
