I Do Believe in Theatre . . . and Pookas? — HARVEY at TAG
As I sit in the audience at TAG, waiting for Harvey to begin, Lauren Ballesteros steps out in costume to give the preshow announcements: thank you all for supporting the theatre, turn off your cellphones, etc…, and then remains on stage as the lights dim and rise, and the play begins—she is now Mrs. Johnson, the maid. Moments like this are clues for me about what sort of production has been created. A production that blurs the walls between reality and fiction, between performance and truth. A production in which choices made by the cast and crew reflect themes and content written into the script.
Smith, Silipa, and Polson
I don’t recall ever reading Harvey or seeing a production of the play before. Mary Chase, the playwright, received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1945, and I can understand why. The script is smart and funny, and very poignant. The heart of the matter lies in the character of Elwood P. Dowd, flawlessly embodied by Sam Polson. Dowd chums around with a pook