When after five years Ed Shea finally got the rights to Harvey, the 1945 Pulitzer Prize-winning play about an affable eccentric who befriends a 6-foot invisible rabbit, he thought his 2nd Story Theatre would be dishing up a pleasant August diversion.

But once he got into rehearsals he began to see things in the play - profound, out-there sorts of things. And it changed his whole take on the play. He realized there's a lot more to Harvey than first meets the eye.

"For a play that seems like a simple fairy tale, it's about big, big ideas," Shea said.

In short, Shea sees Harvey as a parable, a very funny play that on another level is about spiritual realization. It's a play that explores the nature of Eastern thought and the essence of the world's great religions. There are snippets from the Sermon on the Mount, Shea believes, and a suggestion that Harvey, the invisible rabbit, represents The Way of Taoism, the ancient Chinese spiritual path.

"It's the holiest play I've ever worked on," Shea said, "and it's about a bunny."

In it, we meet a lovable fruitcake named Elwood P. Dowd, who spends his time in bars drinking with his invisible friend, Harvey. Elwood's sister, Veta, becomes fed up with her brother's odd behavior and tries to have him committed. But when doctors want to give Elwood a shot to cure him, Veta decides she would rather have him as he is, despite his penchant for weirdness.

Perhaps, Shea wondered, there is some symbolism to be found in the name "Dowd." Maybe the name could be taken to mean "Tao-ed" as in Taoism. In Chinese, the "T" is pronounced like a "D."

To Shea, Elwood is not a nut but a realized man, someone who lives totally in the moment and is comfortable with the notion that all is change, the basic tenets of Buddhism. Elwood is a "saint," he said, someone who has been able to tap in to this mysterious force, this enlightened state of mind.

Shea, like just about every movie fan, saw the Jimmy Stewart film version of Harvey, but it never dawned on him that there might be a spiritual slant to the play. He didn't get that from reading it, either. It wasn't until the cast began speaking their lines that he saw there was more to the script.

In the play, which opened Wednesday in previews, Harvey is referred to as a "pooka," a mythical Celtic being, a mischievous fairy that takes the form of an animal and can talk. It enjoys confusing humans but is considered benevolent.

To Shea, Harvey is not separate from Elwood. He exists in Elwood and vice versa, much like the basis of all mysticism.

Shea is not the first to find a spiritual dimension to the play, but he has taken those insights to the nth degree of late. For example, there is a point in the play when Elwood's psychiatrist, Dr. Chumley, goes with him to a bar. After a couple of drinks, Chumley begins to see Harvey, too. Shea wonders whether that is not a little like seeing the truth after partaking of the sacrament, after drinking the blood of Christ.

And then there are the business cards Elwood is always handing out. He tells people not to call him at the old phone number but to try the new one. To Shea that could be playwright Mary Chase talking about the Old and New Testaments. She seems to be saying, said Shea, that the "old number is OK, but you'll learn more from the new one."

Dr. Chumley ends up wanting Harvey all to himself. He is greedy and small-minded about it. As the play ends, Elwood tells Chumley to get out of Harvey's way, as if to say Harvey is The Way and Dr. Chumley is blocking the path.

Unfortunately, no one can ask Chase about all this. She died in 1981 after a long career as a playwright and journalist. But Shea is convinced that she intended an underlying spiritual message.

"She's too smart," he said.

She's also very funny, he said, and that has informed his direction. He said Chase takes care of the comedy on her own. The actors don't need to be funny. They just need to tap into the truth and the "human connection" will become apparent, he said.

He is hoping that the audience is up for the challenge. He usually speaks for a moment before the start of a show, and no doubt he will say something about his observations.

"I do want people to come prepared for something bigger and grander than they expected," he said.

Whether Harvey is a metaphor for spiritual enlightenment as director Ed Shea has put forth, I can't say. But at 2nd Story Theatre in Warren, I can report that it's a witty charmer of a play, just the thing for a balmy summer's eve.

Of course, most people know this play by Mary Chase from the Jimmy Stewart movie. Stewart played Elwood P. Dowd, the mild-mannered eccentric who has befriended a six-foot invisible rabbit named Harvey. Harvey is actually a pooka, a mythological Celtic being that takes animal form and can bedevil humans. He accompanies Elwood as he makes the rounds of the local bars and when he shows up at social events for his snooty sister Veta, much to Veta's displeasure. She is so frustrated by Elwood's behavior that she tries to have him committed.

But once she starts raving to doctors about Harvey, they lock her up instead and let Elwood go.

Shea, in an interview, has said he sees this droll bit of writing as a tale laced with religious symbolism. Elwood, to him, is a realized being, someone who lives in the moment and is comfortable with the notion that change is the only constant. Whether author Chase intended any of that is anyone's guess. She died in 1981.

But Elwood in the hands of actor Wayne Kneeland is an unusual soul. Kneeland plays him as a sweet innocent. He has never married and spent his life living with his mother until her recent demise. He is slightly befuddled, on one level, looking at the world through a curious squint. But he speaks the truth, a little like Chauncey Gardiner in Being There. Only Elwood seems much more knowing than Chauncey, who is more a blank slate.

Elwood, by virtue of his friendship with Harvey, has tapped into some basic understanding of the human condition. The curious thing about Harvey is that others can see him, too, and that includes Elwood's goofy doctor, who goes off to a bar looking for Elwood and ends up schmoozing with Harvey. Even Veta has seen him.

But this is not a play that calls for much in the way of analysis, one that seems to rely heavily on symbolism. Instead, it's a sweet tale about finding a recipe for happiness, even if that means being a little strange. And ultimately Veta, who at first is embarrassed by Elwood, understands that. When doctors want to give Elwood a shot to cure him, she decides she would rather have him as is, even with his penchant for weirdness.

The cast for this show is first-rate. Again, Kneeland is excellent as Elwood, a meek but knowing man, who seems to have understood the secret to living.

Tom O'Donnell makes a slightly daft Dr. Chumley, who strikes up a friendship with Harvey but wants to use the pooka's powers for selfish ends.

Sharon Carpentier makes a strong showing as sister Veta Dowd Simmons, who ultimately puts Elwood's welfare above that of her social climbing friends.

In lesser roles, Rae Mancini is right on target as Nurse Kelly, who has the hots for Dr. Chumley's assistant, Dr. Sanderson, played by Jay Bragan. And Erin Olson is fine as Veta's daughter, Myrtle Mae.

Shea has kept 2nd Story's standard in-the-round format for this play, where the action is played out on two intersecting runways. The only props are a phone and a couple of paintings, which help keep the script front and center.

If you're a fan of the Jimmy Stewart film, you'll no doubt want to catch this production. And if you've never seen the play before, prepare to be charmed.

Who hasn't seen Jimmy Stewart in the 1950 movie "Harvey?"

Mary Chase's hilarious, heartwarming 1944 play about the imaginary giant white rabbit was turned into a hit movie, and word has it that Steven Spielberg has plans to make it into a movie again next year.

Ed Shea's 2nd Story Theater has taken the play and worked wonders with it. First, he recruited Wayne Kneeland to play the Jimmy Stewart role of Elwood P. Dowd. Kneeland nails the character without copying Stewart, making it his own. He is both naïve and wise and a catalyst for bringing both joy and confusion into the lives of everyone he meets.

Dowd has dropped out of "real life," befriending his imaginary "Pooka" and introducing him to everyone he meets.

His sister, Veta (Sharon Carpentier) and niece, Myrtle (Erin Olson) are appalled and concerned about Elwood's behavior, which disturbs their social life and causes much embarrassment.

When Veta decides to have Elwood committed, all hell breaks loose. The doctors declare that Veta is the insane one, as Elwood charms them with his sincere approach to life.

On the surface, "Harvey" is a hilarious play about a quirky man with an imaginary rabbit friend, but director Ed Shea advises the audience to look beyond the humor and discover the profound religious implications. He even encourages the audience to pick up a paper in the lobby, listing a number of quotes from Buddha.

If you can stop laughing, you'll see the connections between Harvey and some all-knowing, greater power, a Pooka who protects those who believe.

"Harvey" is performed in the round, in an intimate space that brings the audience into the action. The dialogue is fast and furious...and very clever. Elwood sees the good in everything and takes everything that is said at face value, making for some of the best witticism and wit you will ever see on stage.

Who's crazy? Elwood? His sister? The two psychiatrists who frustratingly try to treat him?

Jay Bragan plays the spastic Dr. Sanderson who has a love/hate relationship with his nurse (Rae Mancini). The two of them are a riot together. Tom O'Donnell plays Dr. Chumley, the head of the asylum who is influenced the most by Dowd. Joan Dillenback plays his wife and Stephen Palmer his lawyer. Vince Petronio shows up in the last scene to disrupt the action and bring the play to its satisfying conclusion.

Whatever overtones you see in the play will add to the enjoyment of one hilarious evening of theatre at 2nd Story. What a wonderful way to wrap up your summer.

Mister Rogers is dead. Long live Elwood P. Dowd!

If there is anyone more genial and benignly inspiring than Elwood, he can only be found in one of the books your toddler insists you read at bedtime. Mr. Dowd is the hero of Mary Chase's comedy Harvey, which 2nd Story Theatre is giving a charmingly definitive staging through September 6.

Elwood has a special friend, you see, a 6'1/2" white rabbit he chats with and likes to introduce to people. This has been going on since the death of his mother, when his widowed sister Veta Dowd Simmons (Sharon Carpentier) and her daughter Myrtle Mae (Erin Olson) moved in with him. (Why their mother would bequeath the Atlanta home and everything to Elwood is quite beyond his sister. Something silly like his being the only one to take care of her at the end.)

Young Myrtle Mae can't have her friends over because of her crazy uncle, and she wishes that a truck would take him out at some busy intersection. Hyper-conscious of social position, sister Veta also gives up on him when he insists on introducing Harvey to guests at the Wednesday lecture series she is holding at home to impress the local society editor. But rather than hire a truck driver, she decides to have him committed.

Actor Wayne Kneeland doesn't just perform Elwood, he inhabits the man. Climbs in and zips up. Kneeland presents a sweet and unflappable manner that epitomizes the sort of person the playwright is presenting: the kind of uncomplicated extrovert whom folks immediately take a shine to, who likes nothing more than to invite strangers to his favorite bar to get to know them, as Elwood is constantly doing.

"I've wrestled with reality for 40 years," Elwood states at one point. "I'm happy to say I finally won out over it." That's not exactly an attitude that can keep you out of a sanitarium, where his sister insists he be permanently committed. Because she foolishly admits to a psychiatrist that she has occasionally seen Harvey, she is the one who ends up being locked up - not before suffering the additional humiliation of being stripped by an orderly and plunged into a hydrotherapy tub. Most of the play consists of the sanitarium officials hysterically attempting to rectify this mistake.

Productions at 2nd Story are constantly reminding us that theater is not an elaborate set but rather a performance that makes such backgrounds fade away. Here scenery is merely suggested, by a Persian rug in the middle of the stage area and matching runners at three entrance paths. The costumes by designer Ron Cesario are beautifully explicit, however, down to the colorful period shoes.

It's the casting and the acting that makes this staging so perfectly wonderful, though. The performances begin at good and rise to marvelous, decorated with unexpected flourishes. For example, Ben Garcia gives the inauspicious role of Mr. Wilson, the sanitarium orderly, an undercurrent of exasperation that can make us laugh when he's just standing there. Jay Bragan's psychiatrist, Sanderson, is similarly almost bursting with frustration at every obstacle, which informs a mutual, unadmitted love/hate lust between him and Nurse Kelly (Rae Mancini), so deliciously ironic. And there is the crowning irony of the supposedly austere head of the sanitarium, Dr. Chumley (Tom O'Donnell), increasingly crazed by the gentle influence of Elwood - and Harvey.

The director, Ed Shea, told the opening night audience that he was "astounded" by the Taoist and Buddhist thought expressed in the attitude of Elwood P. Dowd. Perhaps that's vaguely accurate, and perhaps it's simply the "Don't worry - be happy!" sentiment of the Bobby McFerrin song. A helpful reminder either way.

Playwright Chase made sure that Elwood would identify Harvey to people as a pooka (puca), in mythology a fairy in animal form and with human speech. This was to establish that there was an actual source for the delusion he chose to indulge in after the death of his mother. Harvey hit Broadway in 1944, when the country was still embroiled in the suffering and mourning of World War II. What a wonderful reminder it must have been then, that the power of imagination can bring us back to our basic humanity.

2nd Story Theatre's near-perfect production of Mary Chase's beloved, Pulitzer-Prize winning dramatic comedy, "Harvey," is a profound delight about family and unconditional love, complete with countless laughs and some truly unforgettable performances.

Harvey first premiered on stage in 1944 before it became the classic 1950 Oscar winner starring Jimmy Stewart. Directed by Ed Shea, Chase's touching play tells the story of Elwood P. Dowd (Wayne Kneeland), a mild-mannered everyman whose best friend and companion, Harvey, is an invisible rabbit - or Pooka - who stands 6 1/2 feet tall. Elwood's sister, Veta (Sharon Carpentier), is fed up with her brother's delusional behavior, especially the toll it has taken on the social circle of her blossoming daughter, Myrtle Mae (Erin Olson).

When Veta tries to commit Elwood to a sanitarium, her outlandish story convinces a young psychiatrist, Dr. Sanderson (Jay Bragan), that she is actually the one in need of treatment. After wrongly admitting Veta, Sanderson and his nurse, Ruth Kelly (Rae Mancini), become acquainted - and soon thereafter, charmed - with Elwood, who seems to have temporarily lost Harvey. When Sanderson and Kelly realize their mistake, Elwood is nowhere to be found, so the two inform their superior, Dr. Chumley (Tom O'Donnell), who is determined to rectify the situation.

While this madcap predicament is a surefire recipe for endless amusement, the underlying messages are just as clear. Veta begrudgingly professes that she, too, occasionally sees Harvey - a lesson of sorts that when one is told something repeatedly, he or she will eventually believe it. Even the esteemed, levelheaded Dr. Chumley is envious of Elwood's free-spirited ease and becomes somewhat convinced that perhaps ignorance is bliss. Furthermore, Veta is forced to choose between the strange but lovable brother she knows now and a post-therapy Elwood, who will be unfamiliar to her.

Events transpire effectively on 2nd Story's minimalist stage setting, consisting of four opposing entry and exit ways that center upon a meeting space, either in Veta's home or Chumley's facility.

Kneeland is simply superb as the easygoing Elwood, whose sprightly voice perfectly conveys his character's literal-mindedness and pleasant outlook on life. Despite a few speech stumps, Carpentier is just as excellent as the high-strung sister, Veta, who finds herself at a loss for what to do about her uncontrollable brother. Bragan and Mancini play well off each other as the feuding doctor and nurse who are predictably attracted to each other.

Additional supporting cast members whose performances deserve mention are O'Donnell as Chumley, the consummate professional who reconsiders his own area of expertise, and Ben Gracia as the grouchy orderly, Mr. Wilson.

2nd Story's Harvey is enlightening, enjoyable and fun, with a lesson to be learned, for the entire family.

The current show at 2nd Story Theater this summer is "Harvey", the 1945 Pulitzer Prize winning play about Elwood P. Dowd (Jimmy Stewart in the 1950 movie) who has been driving his sister and niece crazy by introducing everyone he meets to his best friend, Harvey, a six and 1/2 foot tall Pooka who can only be seen by Elwood.(A pooka is a mythical Celtic being, a mischievous fairy that takes the form of an animal and it can talk. It enjoys confusing humans but is considered to be benevolent.) Veta, his sister decides to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her daughter, Myrtle Mae and their family from further embarrassment. Problems arise when Veta explains to the doctors after living with Elwood's hallucination,it has caused her to see Harvey as well. "Harvey" opened on Broadway in 1944 and ran for four and a half years at the 48th Street Theatre. It played for 1,755 performances, making it one of the longest running shows in Broadway history. Director Ed Shea captures the magical quality needed for this show with his talented cast. He weaves a spell that entrances the audience all night long with laughter and merriment.

Ed blocks this show very well using the theatre beautifully and keeping his cast in constant motion at a running time of 100 minutes and making it into a two act show. He supplies his cast with many comical moments and physical humor ( Sanderson and Kelly have a funny scene where he falls to the floor after Veta escapes and Kelly falls to her knees in horror. They also have a hilarious kissing scene.) Ed keeps the show set in the spring of 1944 with the set by Trevor Elliot and costumes by Ron Cesario reflecting this. The set is the same playing area, the Dowd mansion and the reception room of Chumley's rest, marked by four doorways and a center playing area with a carpet in the middle. The Operation manager Max Ponticelli keeps things moving smoothly all night long. Wayne Kneeland plays Elwood excellently especially in his huge monologue. He endears himself to the audience, capturing their hearts and gives a winning portrayal of the character. Wayne is very funny as the laid back, tippler with his invisible rabbit and obtains many laughs with his antics especially when he gives out his business cards. Sharon Charpentier who I last reviewed in "Night Must Fall" for The Players in 2005, is Veta Louise Simmons, the ultimate society matron who is very offended by her seemingly crazy brother until she realizes Harvey is her friend, too. She delivers a comic performance while doing so.

The rest of this 12 member cast include Erin Olson as Veta's bratty and spoiled daughter, Myrtle Mae who is anxious to get rid of her uncle so she can win a beau. She handles this petulant role with ease. Erin played Mrs. Keller last year in "The Miracle Worker" and will be playing Isabelle Grossman in "Crossing Delancey" at the Newport Playhouse in October. (Erin always does a topnotch job having reviewed her in numerous shows at URI) Tom O'Donnell plays the pompous Doctor Chumley who wants Harvey for himself and gets his comeuppance from Elwood and Harvey while Joan Dillenback is endearing as his wife, Betty while Stephen Palmer is the blustery Judge Gaffney. (I haven't seen Stephen since we were in "A Clockwork Orange" back in 1988.) Jay Bragan and Rae Mancini play Dr. Sanderson and Nurse Kelly, the love interest in the show, handling their hate/love relationship beautifully, stealing many a scene with their physical humor. The biggest scene stealer is Ben Gracia as Duane Wilson, Chumley's attendant who captures runaway patients and puts them into the hydro tub. He has some of the funniest lines in the show, garnering him many laughs. (Ben also handles dramatic roles, having reviewed him as Shylock in "Merchant of Venice" at URI) Joan Batting garners many laughs as Aunt Ethel who is horrified by Elwood's strange behavior while Vince Petronio plays the cab driver, EJ Lofgren who opens Veta's eyes about making Elwood a normal person again because normal people can be sons of bitches. ( I have been involved with "Harvey", three times as director in 1987, as Dr. Chumley in 1995 and as Duane Wilson in 2003.) So for a trip back to the 1940's and a visit with an invisible rabbit, be sure to catch "Harvey" at 2nd Story Theater before Harvey hops out of town.

"Harvey" is one of everyone's favorite comedies and I'm sure you remember the movie in which Jimmy Stewart has a pal that only he can see, the invisible 6 foot rabbit who is the title character. Reportedly, Steven Spielberg is filming a remake, but before that happens you can see the Pulitzer Prize winning Play the way it was meant to be seen, live onstage at Warren's 2nd Story Theatre August 12th through September 6th.

Bristol resident Wayne Kneeland, proprietor of The Toy Shop on Hope Street, plays Elwood P. Dowd, the best friend an invisible bunny ever had. The idea of a man who sells toys playing a character imbrued with sheer child-like wonder seems irresistible and observing the affable Mr. Kneeland at rehearsal its easy to see why he's a natural fit in the role. Offstage and on, Wayne seems a lot like Elwood, at once mild-mannered and gregarious, a combination best described as gentlemanly. He also possesses that quality that can't be faked or acted but shines onstage-he's a genuinely nice guy and was good enough to field some questions on his life, art and rabbits.

So you sell toys, act and now hang around with invisible rabbits, I asked him, do you just live in a land of make-believe? "You know, I do and I'm blessed", Kneeland responds, "now I don't have to live in the real world at all! I've started to talk to my toys as I stock them-it come naturally, this invisible friend business."

But seriously, the Director Peter Brook once said that a Play is quite simply play, do you agree? "Oh absolutely," he continues, "I started doing puppet shows when I was around 10 and I was always into pretending about other worlds ever since so the theatre and The Toy Shop are a good fit. The great thing about toys, especially the toys I sell, is that you can learn through play-and then I go to 2nd Story Theatre and do the same thing!"

The notion of creative play as a life tool is a good one and it's worth remembering that one man's recreation is another's re-creation. But such play requires hard work. Mr. Kneeland studied at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago in the late '70s and worked there as an actor for 15 years starring in productions of "Equus" and "The Elephant Man". Horses, elephants and now rabbits...I smell a theme. Kneeland also had roles in the films "Risky Business" and "Uncle Buck". "But I've learned more from Ed Shea at 2nd Story in Warren than I did from a decade of working in Chicago," says Kneeland. "He just brings it all out from you. It's all about using the language, being yourself and being outwardly engaged. That it's not all about you but the person you're talking to." That's always good advice, especially when one's costar is so transparent.

Both The Toy Shop and 2nd Story Theatre have become East Bay institutions, thanks in no small part to loyal East Bay support. "We have the same clientele", Wayne exclaims, "I love Bristol and parents love that I carry safe, creative toys that you don't find at the big chains. People appreciate variety, especially when found in a small space that's non-overwhelming." The same holds true for 2nd Story Theatre, providing big entertainment in an intimate setting.

How about similarities between you and Dowd? "Unlike Elwood, I don't drink, but like him I'm truly interested in other people. I'm doing onstage what I do in the shop, talking to people and enjoying them. And like him I'm happiest when I'm on a spiritual quest, looking for something bigger, grander. I'm just a passenger on a journey."

Elwood P. Dowd as a spiritual dude? Well, those who hear voices are usually called either Saints or nuts. "Ah, that's the thing," continues Kneeland, "it's not that Dowd's so different it's that everyone else is!" Unlike the play's other characters Dowd "is not materialistic and has little ego. I think that he was previously very unhappy but once he met Harvey there's a huge change. He's seen the light and he wants to share it, the whole play is spiritual." It is also quite delightful and very funny, a real old-fashioned side-splitter.

Comedy is too often dismissed or taken lightly but there's a reason why "Harvey" won the Pulitzer, though gentle and quirky it carries a conscious message: that those whom the world calls mad often possess a deeper wisdom. And also, as actor Wayne Kneeland puts it, that "it's OK to be yourself. It's about the freedom and joy of knowing we're not alone. That you've got a friend."

You can see "Harvey" at Warren's 2nd Story Theatre, take the elevator or the stairs, now through September 12th. You can visit The Toy Shop, 450 Hope Street, Bristol, and look carefully for the line of life-sized invisible Harvey action figures. Sorry, folks, I pulled that one out of my hat.