Performances November 13-15 at 8:00 PM andDan Tritle, host of Morning Edition on local NPR station WCAI, plays Elwood P. Dowd the man who sees Harvey, the giant rabbit. Playing Elwood Dowd has been a long-time ambition of Mr. Tritle. He said in an recent interview, “I’ve wanted to do a full-fledged production of “Harvey” ever since I first encountered the play three decades ago in a college acting class. At the time, we did three scenes of the play; I was Elwood P. Dowd, and the instructor thought it might be possible to do a full production later. It never came about.
Then,several years ago, the Barnstable Comedy Club planned to produce “Harvey”, but couldn’t get the rights.
“Is Harvey the rabbit real or not? Audience members must decide for themselves. The script always calls Harvey “invisible,” which implies that he’s really there. (You have to be real to be invisible.) Harvey is never called imaginary in the script. Also, Elwood is a man very comfortable with himself, but surrounded by other characters who are frantic. Elwood says that he’s happy wherever he is, and whomever he’s with. A nice insight into the character.