`Harvey' is the unseen hero of Workshop Players production

AMHERST — The most pivotal character in Workshop Players' newest production opening this week is, arguably, unseen. "Arguably" because the 6-foot-tall rabbit "Harvey," the title character of the 1944 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, is invisible but an essential part of the show. Harvey is the best friend of Elwood P. Dowd, an exceedingly polite bachelor whose sister Veta Louise decides to commit to an asylum for his bunny friendship. A mix-up causes Veta Louise to be committed, and Elwood — and Harvey, naturally — continue to socialize, spreading goodness. When Veta Louise is offered a chance to eliminate Elwood's furry friend for good, she comes to question what is most important: his conformity or his kindness. When Director Valerie Farschman pitched the show two years ago, she thought it was a wonderful lightener of spirits, no matter what was happening in the world. "I love 'Harvey.' It's such a lovely show. The character of Elwood is so sweet. She (author Mary Chase) wrote it during World War II, and it doesn't even mention the war, you wouldn't even know. She already was a playwright, she had some on Broadway, and she had a neighbor who was a widow, she lost her son in the war. And she thought, 'I wonder if I could write a play that could make her smile.' "She wrote 'Harvey.' And that year she won the Pulitzer, beating out the young new playwright Tennessee Williams with 'The Glass Menagerie.'" Farschman is excited for audiences to see her cast's work. The cast includes Catherine "Cat" Clements, Bernadette Hisey, Cecil Eastman, Marlene Hehmeyer, Maria "Ezri" Maldonado, Alex Craig, Kevin Boland, Jonathan McCleery and Kristina Rivera. They missed a big chunk of valuable rehearsal time due to the Easter holiday weekend, and then last week storms whipped through during rehearsals at the historic former one-room schoolhouse, knocking out power during a crucial tech rehearsal when they were hoping to work out the bugs with the lights and sound effects. "We did the whole show in the dark. Sometimes we'd have our phones out, but at times we couldn't see, it was pitch dark in there and the actors would be like… 'are you there?' 'Yeah, OK.' There was the whole cast, plugging away. I thought if they can do that whole show in the dark, they can do anything." "The whole show is about being kind, and living in the moment. It's about the human heart, friendship, the imagination, the good things in life," she said. "You know, the reason why we live. And it's a wonderful escape from everything out here for a few hours." And Harvey — well, he only lets people who believe in him see him. Farschman said he may or may not be around the theater. "We all believe he's there when things go missing," she said. "We all go 'Harvey!' and then later it will show back up, whatever it was." Chase was inspired to write the character of Harvey from the tales of Irish uncles, who spun stories of pookas, mischief-making spirits of Irish folklore. Hisey, who plays Veta Louise, is knitting "pookas" to sell, with proceeds to benefit Workshop Players. "I really hope people leave Workshop with a lighter heart and a lighter spirit and are kinder to those around them," she said. Contact Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.