Harvey by Mary Chase (1943)

TW: Assault

 

SYNOPSIS

            Veta is trying to get young Myrtle Mae into the right social circles with a party that gets ruined by Elwood and his delusional giant rabbit friend, Harvey. This leads Veta to try and have Elwood committed for life only for the doctor to mistake Veta for being the hysterical one because she admits to having seen Harvey for herself once or twice. She’s taken into the sanitarium and Elwood is free to go about his business until the staff discover Harvey’s top hat with two holes cut into the top for his ears. Veta is released and reasonably tries to sue the sanitarium while the staff tries to track down Elwood. Sanderson, the doctor that falsely diagnosed Veta, has been fired but is still at the asylum when Elwood returns alone to invite the staff to drinks, but it’s revealed that Chumley, the doctor that went to find him, succeeded and yet did not return with Elwood. Wilson, the orderly, is ready to beat answers out of Elwood, but thankfully Chumley returns unharmed but terrified. He is apparently also starting to see Harvey, but soon wants to keep the Pooka after hearing that he can stop time indefinitely. Sanderson recommends a treatment that’ll keep Elwood from seeing Harvey for good which Chumley endorses believing he’ll get sole custody of Harvey and be able to use his abilities. Only based on the word of a cab driver used to delivering patients to the asylum and seeing how different they are on return trips does Veta change her mind and decide that she’d rather have the kindhearted Elwood as he is, Harvey included, than to make him “normal.”

 

CHARACTERS

 

Myrtle Mae Simmons – Young Woman, Daughter of Veta

Veta Louise Simmons – Middle Aged, Sister of Elwood

Elwood P. Dowd – Middle Aged, Brother of Veta and Uncle to Myrtle Mae

Miss Johnson – Young Adult, Maid

Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet – Party Guest, Family Friend of the Simmons and Dowds

Ruth Kelly, RN – Young Adult

Duane Wilson – Orderly

Lyman Sanderson, MD – Young Adult

William R. Chumley, MD – Middle Aged

Betty Chumley – Middle Aged

Judge Omar Gaffney – Middle Aged

EJ Lofgren – Adult, Cab Driver

 

Potential Monologues

            There aren’t very many examples of monologues. There are some of Elwood’s musings, but they’re largely nonsensical. Veta has a pretty short example where she’s explaining Elwood’s condition but it doesn’t necessarily have a compelling ending on its own. The next closest thing this play has to a monologue is the way the cab driver talks about the difference in folks when they go into the sanitorium and when they come out. While is has a beginning, middle, and end while telling a story, it’s not particularly dynamic out of context.

 

PERSONAL THOUGHTS

            Elwood really makes this show, but that’s only if the rest of the ensemble does their job being well grounded in reality and slowly coming unhinged to the point that Elwood seems perfectly normal. It’s also worth noting that his personality didn’t really change when he met Harvey, he just extended his courtesies to an entity the rest of society didn’t acknowledge.

            The show does touch a bit on how professionals tend to doubt women clients more often in favor of men. Reading the text without any prior research I was scared for Veta when she was forcibly taken into the sanitorium and stripped of her rights and I worried it was going to be played for laughs. While some characters do joke about it, it’s more so played as a grave mistake and taken seriously by the majority of the class. I feel like that’s what happens when women write female characters. In fact, Veta is given a lot of agency even though this is a period play. That’s largely because she’s not just wealthy but Elwood, the true authority of the family, puts his absolute faith in her. Elwood leaving most decisions to Veta is also how he’s able to retain his carefree disposition in my opinion.