Long Beach Playhouse executive director Madison Mooney recently said that “Harvey” is just the sort of play we need right now. And she’s right. If you are among those trading your smartphone for a flip phone, resisting ChatGPT and wondering where common decency went, “Harvey” is all that rolled up into one very well-acted comedy-drama.
Written in 1944 by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Mary Chase, the title “Harvey” refers to a six-foot-tall white rabbit who is the imaginary best friend of a grown man named Elwood P. Dowd (Tod Walker). Though he may be non-existent, Harvey is the center of the play, an invisible character made “real” just with words and affecting nearly everyone around him.
Elwood’s sister Veta (Harriet Whitmyer) and her daughter Myrtle Mae (Talitha Barkow) are throwing a party for their women’s club and don’t want Elwood around in case he mentions Harvey, who is the bane of their existence, even though he is non-existent — and yet he does exist because Elwood believes in him.
When the mild-mannered Elwood unexpectedly shows up (with Harvey, of course) and introduces his invisible friend to the visiting women, it’s the final straw for Veta, who then seeks to have her brother committed to a sanitarium with the help of a judge friend (Patrick Frazier).
But when frustrated Veta tries to explain the problem of Harvey at the sanitarium, Dr. Sanderson (Aaron Izbicki) thinks she is the one who needs treatment for believing in the imaginary rabbit and has her installed in a therapy room, finding Elwood perfectly calm and reasonable by contrast.
The hospital staff has its own dramas going on, bordering on hysterical at times, making Elwood seem even more sane by comparison. And there is even some question about whether Harvey could really be a “pooka,” which hospital orderly Wilson (Demetri Mack) looks up in an encyclopedia (necessary if you don’t have a smartphone) and learns is an Irish fairy spirit in animal form.
There’s also a painting of Elwood with a tall white rabbit that someone places on the family mantel in front of his and Veta’s deceased mother’s portrait, making Harvey seem even more real, whether as a pooka or an actual being.
The joy of this production is not just the charming story of Harvey and its convincing message of having faith in kindness and imagination, but how all the actors — expertly directed by Bob Fetes — are invested in their roles and seem to enjoy playing them.
Walker is well cast as the perfectly “pleasant” Elwood, Whitmyer makes a sharp yet remarkably vibrant Veta, and Barkow embodies Myrtle Mae’s youthful impetuousness and coy but over-the-top interest when young Wilson makes eyes at her.
At the hospital, a brewing romance between Dr. Sanderson and Nurse Kelly (Jill Prout) creates some mild and funny tension. And an extended monologue by stuffy psychiatrist Dr. Chumley (Robb Tracy) to Elwood about what he would do with the pooka’s power — drink beer under some trees with a doting woman who says “poor dear” — clearly puts him in the not-quite-alright category.
While that monologue and a somewhat random speech by a cab driver (Phyllis M. Nofts) seem like they could be shortened, the play is overall delightfully written, just a tad long and with a decidedly old-school flavor.
But old-school may be just what we need right now to remind us of when things felt “normal” — before technology, culture and world events seem to have spiraled out of our control — even if it means believing in a 6-foot-tall bunny to make it feel that way.
“Harvey” continues through May 2 at the Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $27 or $20 for students and seniors. Free parking is available in the lot behind the theater. For tickets, call the box office at 562-494-1014 or visit LBPlayhouse.org. Run time is 2 hours and 30 minutes, including intermission.