by Jonah Grimes
This year the Oakdale High School Drama Department will be putting on a down-to-earth play known as Harvey. The play is comprised of a relatively small cast of twelve students including Charles Kirk, Fred Pridemore, and Lilly Widdup. Harvey is a three-act play about a very polite man named Elwood P. Dowd. However, his best friend is an invisible six foot tall rabbit named Harvey; his interactions with Harvey affect the lives of his family and the staff of a sanitorium where his sister Veta is trying to have him committed.
The play has been in production for a few months now and has been delayed twice; it will not be shown until May now due to scheduling conflicts with Fiddler. This play has been long anticipated by both the public and the performers. It is expected to have a great opening night despite the recent setbacks due to the snowstorm. The cast has been working tirelessly with blocking and memorizing lines; with tech rehearsals starting this weekend it’s only expected to become more difficult.
“Getting my lines memorized and my blocking organized was the hardest part,” stated Kasey Taylor who plays Betty Chumley, when asked what she found difficult about working on the play. She went on to talk about how much she enjoyed working with the cast and how she’s learned a lot from performing in the play.
With the play drawing near it was quite unclear how it would fare due to the lack of advertising around the school. When asked for his input on the subject, Mr. Michael Copen, the director stated, “Excellent, I think the people who see this are really going to respond.”
Copen went on to talk about how the lack of advertising was a timing issue but that he has sold tickets and believes people will leave this show with a new outlook on how they treat others.
When you see Harvey you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and most of all you’ll walk away with a new perspective on life. This play has a different type of humor that isn’t reflected through slapstick, but rather through each individual character and the way they talk and act. Harvey is quite a few months away but it is still well on its way to being a smash hit here at OHS. Mr. Copen and the cast are all very excited to give everyone who attends a night they’ll never forget.
