Easily the most eagerly-awaited, talked-about and hyped performance at this year’s Fringe was One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. With its odd-couple combination of Hollywood big-hitter Christian Slater and geeky Gareth from The Office, the stage version of Ken Kesey’s 1962 masterpiece had the Press and public drooling with anticipation. The drama began before the curtain was even raised, though, when Slater contracted chicken pox and the first four performances had to be cancelled. Last week the Press were finally allowed in. Here, Jack McKeown gives his verdict.

The film version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest became only the second ever film to win the five major Oscars—Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director and Screenplay. The book on which it was based is regarded as a modern classic which inspired a generation of disaffected youths. So you might say the stage version had a pretty large pair of boots to fill, but fill them it does.

After a career being compared to Jack Nicholson, it’s fitting that Christian Slater decided to step into the role that made Nicholson famous—the original gambling, brawling, free-spirited rebel, R. P. McMurphy.

This is no mean feat, given that Nicholson won an Oscar and universal acclaim for making the character his own. One criticism I’ve always had, though, is that the McMurphy in Kesey’s book is a big brute of a man who likes nothing better than a good punch-up. Nicholson, for all the doors his devil’s smile may have opened for him, is not an imposing man.

Slater has obviously taken this under consideration and prepared for the role. On stage his broad chest and big shoulders give him the physical presence Nicholson lacked.

The story is an almost perfect candidate for a stage adaptation as most of the action takes place on the hospital ward, with charismatic conman McMurphy arriving on the scene and shaking up the inmates, who have been cowed by the authoritarian and sadistic Nurse Ratched.

To watch his performance, you wouldn’t think that just a couple of weeks ago Christian Slater was laid up in bed with chicken pox, a secondary infection and talk of impending pneumonia.

He’s charged with energy and enthusiasm and delivers a charismatic and convincing lead, without ever dominating or eclipsing the rest of the cast.

Which is a good thing, because there’s a wealth of acting talent on show here. In particular Mackenzie Crook (Gareth from The Office) shines as insecure, fragile stutterer Billy Bibbett.

I have to admit to being a bit dubious of his acting talents at first. Having seen him being interviewed, I always thought he was just playing an exaggerated version of himself as ubergeek Gareth.

Crook is outstanding though, with a full range of tics and twitches breathing life into the character. Okay, his American accent is a bit ropy in places, but he brings real pathos and tragedy to the role.

Dominating the inmates is Big Nurse, played by Francis Barber, who has a wonderful time hamming it up as the fearsome man-hating figure. She doesn’t have the tight, controlled demeanour of Louise Fletcher, who could signal hate with a single glance or gesture, but her breathy, over-the-top performance is perfectly suited to the stage.

The rest of the cast, mainly made up of comedians, provide a wonderful array of lunatic characters, especially Ian Coppinger as the endlessly grinning hallucinator Martini, who was originally played by Danny Devito in his first screen role, and Brendan Dempsey, who captures the crushed pride of Chief Bromden perfectly.

The book’s theme of the asylum as society in miniature still holds true, with Nurse Ratched manipulating and bullying the patients not, as she claims, for their own good, but for her own sadistic pleasure.

Into this bursts the untameable McMurphy, who lives by his own rules, takes a stand and is ultimately crushed for it.

Slater plays all sides of McMurphy well. The easy living, hollerin’ gambler, the desperation and pride of a rebel backed into a corner, the irresistible force which finally realises it can’t destroy the immovable object.

Being a big fan of the book and film helped, but I don’t think you need to be familiar with the story to be swept along by it.

It’s far and away the best thing I saw at the festival, and I saw a lot of good shows. Unfortunately for those who haven’t already booked tickets, demand far outstripped supply and Cuckoo’s Nest has long been sold out.

It moves to London’s West End after the Fringe winds up next week. Those who haven’t managed to see it might well consider basing a long weekend in London around it—it’s that good.