Harvey @ Stolen Shakespeare Guild
Production photos by Jennifer and Bart Stewart, and Jason Morgan
—Jan Farrington
Comedy is hard, and old comedies are harder. So it’s a pleasure to say that Stolen Shakespeare Guild does quite a nice job with Mary Chase’s whimsical 1944 Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvey, the tale of a man and his rabbit.
Or Pooka, if you’re a stickler.
The one must-have element a company needs for Harvey is the right actor to play Elwood P. Dowd (the part Jimmy Stewart made his own in the 1950 movie). And Travis Cook is simply great, giving Elwood the warmth and heart (however “unusual” he may seem if you think too hard) the other characters need to bring this strange story to life.
For Elwood lives with his best friend Harvey, a six-foot-plus rabbit whose hats, naturally, need two holes cut for his ears. This invisible BFF is a great annoyance to the home’s other residents, Elwood’s sister Veta (Laura Jones) and her marriage-minded daughter Myrtle Mae (Kaitlin Wampler). How can they get in with the right social crowd if Elwood is constantly introducing friend Harvey to their guests?
Cook finds just the right mix for Elwood’s sweet, serious, oddball manner. He’s old-school polite, holding chairs for the ladies and insisting on proper introductions. He’s a genteel bar-hopper: Elwood and Harvey know every place in town, and get a “Norm!” reaction at all of them. He’s endlessly interested in people, digging into the lives and problems of every person he meets (and usually inviting them to dinner). And he’s a flirt, with an easy smile and a way of looking into a woman’s eyes. (Even his elderly “aunt” Ethel, played by Nancy Lamb, thinks he’s adorable.) Once upon a time, Elwood was all business, we hear—but that was before Harvey.
The plot (though chances are you know it) involves Veta and Myrtle Mae’s attempts to have Elwood committed to the local sanatarium, mostly to solve their social problems. That’s how a pair of psychiatrists get involved—D’Aidan Wright as Dr. Sanderson and Dennis GW Millegan as Dr. Chumley—plus perceptive and pretty Nurse Kelly (Lindsey Nelson); a strong-arm attendant (Nicholas Zebrun) named Wilson; concerned family friend Judge Gaffney (Jonathan Russell); Dr. Chumley’s angsty wife Betty (Karen Matheny); and a wised-up cabbie (Kit Hussey) who’s seen a lot on the way to and from the sanatarium. Each actor, directed by Staci Ingram, creates some memorable moments for the audience.
There’s no need to say much more about the story: Harvey is meant to flow over and into you. I will note that this is the original script for the stage play, and seems to me a bit deeper and more sophisticated than the screenplay adapted for the film. For theater nerds, it’s fun to try and catch lines and bits that weren’t in the movie, and wonder why those changes were made.
SSG doesn’t often do a straight play: they specialize in Shakespeare and musicals. And I’d wondered about this pick. But though Travis Cook won’t erase the memories of our “Jimmy” in the part, I’m very glad I saw this performance—full of humor and truth, and a sweetness that never gets sugary. And Harvey? We don’t see him, but are certain that if Elwood thinks he’s a great friend and a balm to the soul, maybe he’s just what we need in a contentious time.
“P-O-O-K-A, pooka, from old Celtic mythology. A fairy spirit in animal form, always very large. The pooka appears here and there, now and then, to this one and that one—a benign but mischievous creature, very fond of rumpots, crackpots, and how are you, Mr. Wilson.”
WHEN: Through April 30
WHERE: 1300 Gendy Street, Fort Worth (in FW Community Arts Center)
