St. Dom’s Drama Society to present ‘Harvey’

AUBURN – The Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a man and his imaginary friend Harvey, a 6½-foot-tall rabbit, is coming to St. Dominic Regional High School in May 8 and 9.
Written by Mary Chase, the play won the Pulitzer for drama in 1945. It is the story about a man named Elwood P. Dowd (Delton Hulbert) who has an imaginary friend in a 6½-foot-tall “pooka” in the form of a rabbit named Harvey.
A pooka is by definition “a mischievous spirit in Irish folklore.” In the play, Harvey the invisible rabbit is Dowd’s best friend. Dowd’s sister, Veta Louise Simmons (Catie Skaleski), and her daughter, Myrtle Mae (Sarah Small), are tired of Harvey and his antics and decide that Elwood needs to be placed in a sanitarium.
When Simmons and Dowd arrive at the sanitarium, Dr. Sanderson (Dan Mason) and Nurse Kelly (Marie Frechette) decide she is the one who needs help and commits her instead of her imaginary rabbit-loving brother.
When the truth finally comes out, thanks to Dr. Chumley (Joe Stalford) and his wife Betty (Samantha Laverdiere), people begin looking for Dowd and his invisible friend. Through a series of events, the doctor begins seeing Harvey and the sanitarium orderly isn’t so certain he’s not real either.
Other members of the cast include Matt Lamare as Wilson, Greta Castonguay as Miss Johnson, Kay Burns as Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet, Patrick Lachance as Judge Omar Gaffney and Ryan Robitaille as E.J. Lofgren the Cab Driver.
The remainder of the play is acted out through various laughs and special moments between the brother, sister, Harvey and the rest of the cast. The show is set for 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, May 8 and 9, at the St. Dom’s commons. For more information or to reserve tickets, please send an e-mail to noel.thibodeau@portlanddiocese.org or call 782-6911 x3222.