Harvey (play)

Harvey
First edition 1953
Written by	Mary Chase
Characters	Elwood P. Dowd Veta Louise Simmons Betty Chumley E. J. Lofgren Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet Judge Omar Gaffney William R. Chumley, M.D. Lyman Sanderson, M.D. Miss Johnson Ruth Kelly, R.N. Myrtle Mae Simmons Duane Wilson Harvey
Date premiered	November 1, 1944 (1944-11-01)
Place premiered	48th Street Theatre New York City, New York
Original language	English
Genre	Comedy
Setting	The library of the Old Dowd Mansion The Reception Room at Chumley's Rest

Harvey is a 1944 play by the American playwright Mary Chase. Chase received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work in 1945. It has been adapted for film and television several times, most notably in a 1950 film starring James Stewart.

Harvey premiered on Broadway on November 1, 1944, at the 48th Street Theatre and closed on January 15, 1949, after 1,775 performances. The original production was directed by Antoinette Perry and produced by Brock Pemberton and starred Frank Fay as Elwood P. Dowd and Josephine Hull as Elwood's sister Veta. Elwood was subsequently played during this run by Joe E. Brown, Jack Buchanan, and James Stewart.

The play also had a production in 1949 at London's Prince of Wales Theatre starring Sid Field then, after Field's death, Leslie Henson, and at Paris' théâtre Antoine, staged by Marcel Achard in 1950.

A Broadway revival at the ANTA Theatre ran from February 24, 1970, to May 2, 1970, and starred James Stewart and Helen Hayes. In 1975 Stewart appeared in a West End revival at the Prince of Wales Theatre, with Mona Washbourne in the role of Veta. A further West End revival played at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1995 starring Gorden Kaye and Rue McClanahan.