By WESLIE STRATTON
The Progress
Moapa Valley High School theater students are prepared to entertain the community with the production of Harvey, showing at 7 pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 14, 15 and 16, at the high school.
Directed by MVHS Theater teacher Dr. Kenna Higgins, the play follows the story of a grown man with an imaginary friend, who happens to be an oversized rabbit named Harvey.
“Some people may or may not have heard of it,” Higgins said. “This man has an imaginary six-foot rabbit friend. His sister gets really fed up with him introducing his imaginary friend to her friends, and she decides to have him committed. Of course, that doesn’t work very well – and that’s where the story gets very funny.”
Higgins said that this play is a nice commentary on the social acceptance of oddities and mental health.
“Everyone loves Elwood,” she said. “He’s so kind and polite, are we willing to accept his quirky antics?”
Harvey is out of the ordinary for MVHS. Higgins said they were looking for something a little more meaty this year.
“It does have some humor,” she said.
Students have been working on the production since the start of the school year and look forward to performing.
“We have really good kids,” Higgins said. “You work on something for a whole semester and they become really good friends.”
She noted that while some of the kids wouldn’t typically choose to hang out with one another, high school theater has a way of bringing them all together.
She said that they had to get creative with the casting of Harvey.
“We only have two guys in our theater class,” Higgins said. “There are often more than two guys in a play. One senior is our lead, she has to play a guy. I think it will be really fun!”
Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students. Attendees are encouraged to purchase tickets at the door with cash or check.
