‘One Flew over Cuckoo’s Nest’ opens Jan. 15

Nurse Ratched, antagonist of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” is a symbol of iron-fisted power. She keeps the inmates at her psychiatric hospital medicated and cowed. Even the name “Nurse Ratched” has become shorthand for heartless authority.

But Michael Jay, who is directing the stage version of Ken Kesey’s novel at Dover Little Theatre, had a different idea in mind. So at the callback auditions, he asked each of the actresses a question: Does Nurse Ratched care about her patients?

With one exception, the actresses answered in the negative. That exception was Sarah Henley of Washington Township, Morris County.

“Sarah was the only one who said that Nurse Ratched cares deeply about her patients,” Jay says. “That’s when I knew I wanted to cast her. I wanted all the actors to look at their parts a little differently.”

Jay’s production of “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” will open at Dover tonight and run through Jan. 30.

Playing opposite Henley is Christian Chase of Little Falls as Randle Patrick McMurphy, the rebellious inmate who completely undercuts the power structure at the hospital where Ratched is the chief administrative nurse.

“One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is a considered a classic of nonconformity. The novel was published to acclaim in 1962.

The 1975 film version is a classic of another sort. It is one of only three movies to earn Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Milos Forman), Best Actor (Jack Nicholson as McMurphy), Best Actress (Louse Fletcher as Ratched) and Best Screenplay.

The play version (with script by Dale Wasserman) is less well-known. Despite the star power of Kirk Douglas starring as McMurphy, it had a run of less than three months on Broadway in 1963.

“I saw the movie seven or eight years ago, but I’ve never seen the stage production,” says Jay, a resident of Great Meadows.

Nonetheless, Jay says he felt compelled to direct the play. “It’s a classic,” he says. “It’s a story that people are familiar with, but it’s not stale or overdone.”

Chase, who also has never seen the stage production, says he was attracted to the story from both the novel and the film.

“McMurphy is one of the great roles,” Chase says. “He uses his sense of humor to hide his true feelings. He starts out think he’s going to take advantage of the other inmates, but he ends up feeling a connection to them.”

The layers to the character constitute only one challenge of playing McMurphy. “He’s very high-energy,” Chase says. “It’s really draining playing him.”

Jay says that he appreciates Chase’s interpretation of the character. “We have to fall in love with McMurphy almost immediately,” Jay says. “The minute you think he’s a jerk, you lose the audience. We have to like him, to make his tragedy even deeper.”

Equally important is McMurphy’s interplay with the other inmates, notably “Chief” Bromden (played at Dover by Larry Pelham of Rockaway). As with the novel, the play is narrated by Bromden, a Native American who pretends to be deaf and mute.

“The challenge of the play is that you have to establish the relationships in a very short time,” Jay says. “We don’t have a boating scene (as in the movie). We don’t have a half-hour to play basketball on stage. Everything has to be done very quickly.”

Though “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is a work from the 1960s — the height of nonconformity — the message is timeless, according to Chase.

“The point is that you can’t always conform,” he says. “You have to be free, at any cost. The question is, what are you willing to sacrifice for that freedom?”

ONE FLEW OVER

THE CUCKOO’S NEST

WHEN: Through Jan. 30. 8 p.m.

Fridays and Saturdays (plus Thursday, Jan. 28); 2 p.m. Sundays

WHERE: Dover Little Theatre,

69 Elliott St., Dover

TICKETS: $17

INFO: 973-328-9202 or www.doverlittletheatre.org