Harvey (play review)

Harvey

As the curtain fell on the bowed actors after the Saturday performance of “Harvey,” I had to admit to myself that the play was damn good. As a thorough skeptic of scholastic theater, my expectations for this play were defied from the first light on the set to the last ovations of the audience.
“Harvey” is the story of Elwood P. Dowd, an aging man in the 1940s with a contagious case of schizophrenia. The play is named for his best friend Harvey, a six-foot-tall rabbit (called a pooka: a fairy in animal form who appears to only a select few) who accompanies him on nightly escapades to bars and social gatherings. Elwood’s sister eventually grows so weary of his antics that she attempts to commit him to a mental institution, but he is so affectionate and cordial that the doctors become convinced she is covering up for her own mental ailment. This is how the story progresses; with Elwood charming his way past doctors and young women while the people chasing after him wind up going half-crazy themselves.
Ryan Woodyard played the part of Elwood flawlessly. As his first MTHS theater performance, “Harvey” was a bang-up debut for this smashing young actor. His smiles and jokes were as quick to charm the characters on stage as they were to charm the audience. Instantly likeable and impeccably dressed, his character was as well-acted as he was well-written.
Also new to the stage was Shane Miner-Headley, who played the young Dr. Sanderson at the institution. At times his lines seemed stiff, but nevertheless his part was well executed.
Appearing almost exclusively with Miner-Headley on set was Alix Deenin as the vivacious and young Nurse Kelly. Deenin was infallibly convincing on set, nailing every line and expression with the precision and heartfelt emotion of a professional.
Michael Ward filled the shoes of Dr. Chumley, the pompous and overbearing senior doctor, and did so incredibly well. His faces and gestures conjured comic elements to the stage at all the right times, and the entire performance seemed to go more smoothly with his presence on stage.
Amanda Stewart was casted as Veta Simmons, Elwood’s sister. While her demeanor was fitting for the part of the fretting old lady, she lacked enunciation and at times was nearly inaudible. Her part could have been immensely improved with a few extra decibels to every line.
Theresa Haldeman played Myrtle Mae Simmons, Veta’s daughter and Elwood’s niece, and she did it with skill and grace. As quick and intelligent as she was adorable, Haldeman could not have done better.
Alan Garcia filled the last major role as the exuberant Judge Gaffney. Garcia was enthusiastic and energetic for his part, but sometimes his movement and hurried dialog bordered on frantic and difficult to interpret.
As the audience follows Elwood’s youthful cavorting they also encounter Wilson (Irving Garcia), the strong-armed assistant at the mental hospital, Betty Chumley (Lynsey Lorraine), the doctor’s prim and disdainful wife, Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet Jessica Weight), the flamboyant aristocrat, and Miss Johnson (Kathryn Goddard), the quiet and submissive maid at the Simmon’s household. Last to appear on stage was Nick Terry as E. J. Lofgren, the worldly-wise cab-driver with a boy’s cap on his head and his hands in his pockets.
The message of the play contains a satisfying dose of irony. As the plot approaches resolution, not one character on the set has proved immune to Elwood’s charismatic smile. As Mrs. Simmons and the staff at the hospital go nearly crazy trying to track him down, he is making friends and enjoying his carefree life with Harvey. Playgoers must ask themselves, “Who is better off?” The answer is evident by the last few minutes of the performance, when everyone breathes a sigh of relief as Elwood narrowly evades the gloomy solution of electroshock therapy. Somewhere along the way, during his happy gamboling, Elwood captivates not only the characters on set but the audience as well.

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