The Charlton Champion

News in from Charlton’s amateur theatre group, The Alexandra Players, of their latest production:

We are thrilled to announce that to continue our successful run of bringing Broadway/West End theatre shows to the borough: our next production will be HARVEY by Mary Chase.

Mary Chase introduced HARVEY to the world in 1944. It was a huge success and in 1945, it received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play ran for 5 years on Broadway and was also enjoyed by audiences in the West End when the production came to the Prince of Wales Theatre, London in 1949.2019 marks the play’s 75th anniversary.

Many will recount the unbeatable portrayal of Elwood. P Dowd in the movie by American Actor, James Stewart – one of the most honoured and popular stars in film history.  The actor even revisited the part, some years after the 1949 theatrical production in London and the movie in 1950 – by playing the character once again in the West-End revival that returned to London in 1975.

For those unfamiliar with the film or play, it tells the tale of Elwood P. Dowd – a gentle but wealthy drunk who starts having visions of a giant rabbit named Harvey. Elwood lives with his sister Veta-Louise and her daughter, Myrtle Mae. Veta worries that Elwood has gone insane and in the process of trying to have Elwood committed, admits that she too occasionally sees Harvey herself. The director of the Sanatorium – Dr. Chumley, tries to reconcile his duty to help Elwood with his own growing experiences with Harvey.

Directed by Louise Gaul – HARVEY features many familiar faces from The Alexandra Players.