[1] The play had its Broadway debut in 1963 with an adaptation by Dale Wasserman starring Kirk Douglas as Randle McMurphy, a mental patient and Joan Tetzel as Nurse Ratched.

[1] The 1963–64 Broadway production starred Douglas as Randle Patrick McMurphy, Gene Wilder as Billy Bibbit, William Daniels as Harding, Ed Ames as "Chief" Bromden, Al Nesor as Martini, and Joan Tetzel as Nurse Ratched.

[4] In 1982 Greg Hersov directed a production at the Royal Exchange, Manchester with Jonathan Hackett as Randle McMurphy, Linda Marlowe as Nurse Ratched and Tim McInnerny as Billy Bibbitt.

[6] In 2004, Guy Masterson and Nica Burns mounted a production at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with Christian Slater, Mackenzie Crook and Frances Barber and a cast of comedians including Owen O'Neill.

[7] Masterson famously resigned as director & co-producer just prior to opening citing "ill health" and the production was finally delivered by Terry Johnson and Tamara Harvey.

During the immersive pre-show, audience members were tasked with finding clues as to why they have been admitted to the hospital that eventually led them to join the patient revolution.

The adaptation recontextualised the play to 1960s Australia, with the reimagining of the "Chief" Bromden character as a local Aboriginal man, as well as some adjustment of language to fit the Australian idiom.