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Audition: Harvey

AUDITION

Harvey

By Mary Chase

Directed by Jill Stapleton Bergeron

Show Dates:
July 25th - August 10th, 2025
Audition Dates:
  • Saturday, May 24th at 3PM
  • Sunday, May 25th at 7PM

THE STORY: Elwood P. Dowd insists on including his friend Harvey in all of his sister Veta’s social gatherings. Trouble is, Harvey is an imaginary six-and-a-half-foot-tall rabbit. To avoid future embarrassment for her family—and especially for her daughter, Myrtle Mae—Veta decides to have Elwood committed to a sanitarium. At the sanitarium, a frantic Veta explains to the staff that her years of living with Elwood’s hallucination have caused her to see Harvey also, and so the doctors mistakenly commit her instead of her mild-mannered brother. The truth comes out, however; Veta is freed, and the search is on for Elwood, who eventually arrives at the sanitarium of his own volition, looking for Harvey. But it seems that Elwood and his invisible companion have had a strange influence on more than one of the doctors. Only at the end does Veta realize that maybe Harvey isn’t so bad after all.

Winner of the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Audition Requirements

  • No monologue is necessary. The audition will consist of cold readings from the script.
  • A headshot and resume are recommended but not required.
  • Please bring a detailed list of conflicts for the next 3 months.

Roles

Available roles: 5 female, 6 male, 1 female or male

All roles are open. Doubling is possible. Please address any questions about auditions to the director, Jill Stapleton Bergeron at
jsbergeron@outlook.com

The Family:

  • Elwood P. Dowd: The central character of the play, a charming eccentric whose best friend is Harvey, an invisible six-foot-tall rabbit. Elwood is well-mannered, friendly and kind. Veta’s younger brother. (MALE; Age 40-60)
  • Veta Simmons: Elwood’s sister, Veta has returned to the family home after the death of her mother and is intent on landing a suitable husband for her daughter Myrtle Mae. She is concerned about fitting into society and all the social proprieties that involves. She also loves her brother Elwood very much. (FEMALE; Age 45-60)
  • Myrtle Mae Simmons: Veta’s daughter (and Elwood’s niece). Both Veta and Myrtle are about the business of finding Myrtle a man to marry–a mission that is made impossible with Elwood and Harvey constantly popping in. Myrtle is extremely self-centered. (FEMALE; Age 20-30)
    The Sanatorium Staff:
  • Dr. Chumley: Chumley is an esteemed psychiatrist and the head of Chumley’s Experimental
    Rest Home for the Mentally Askew. He is a difficult, exacting man who will go to any length to
    protect the reputation of his sanitarium and his own reputation as one of the most renowned
    psychiatrists in the world, but his interaction with Elwood and Harvey reveals an unexpected
    vulnerability. (MALE; Age 50-70)
  • Dr. Sanderson: a young and highly qualified psychiatrist, handpicked by Chumley. His talent is only surpassed by his vanity. He is as infatuated with Nurse Kelly as she is with him, though he struggles not to let on. (MALE; Age 30-45)
  • Wilson: A brute of a man, the muscle of Chumley’s Rest, a devoted orderly responsible for
    handling the patients who will not cooperate voluntarily. (MALE; Age 25-45)
  • Nurse Kelly: An attractive young woman who has a love/hate relationship with Dr. Sanderson. (FEMALE; Age 25-40)
    Additional Characters:
  • Judge Gaffney: An old family friend of the Dowds and the family’s lawyer. . .a little in love with Veta. (MALE; Age 45-65)
  • E.J. Lofgren: a cab driver whose monologue about his/her sanitarium passengers is crucial to the climax of the play. (EITHER GENDER; Age 25-55)
  • Ethel Chauvenet: An old friend of the family. She is a leader of the town’s social circle that
    Veta desperately wants Myrtle to break into. (FEMALE; Age 40-70)
  • Betty Chumley: Dr. Chumley’s kind and talkative wife. (FEMALE; Age 50-65)
  • One versatile male to play 4 cameo roles: Mr. Lapin (a real estate agent), Dumphy (a sanitorium attendant), Officer Welty (a police officer), and Harvey’s voice (MALE; Age 25-60)

This project is being supported in whole or in part, by federal award number 21.027 awarded to the City of Knoxville by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Arts & Culture Alliance