Mein Freund Harvey
Stage Design
Image by Yasmin Abbas
Every child probably has an imaginary friend. In Elwood P. Dowd‘s case, it‘s an almost two-metre tall rabbit called Harvey. But Elwood is no longer a child, he‘s a grown man. Together with his sister Veta and his nephew Myrtle, he lives in a house that their mother left to them. It is difficult for Veta and her son to socialize and find a place in respectable society, as Harvey is not accepted among the Dowds‘ acquaintances.
The play is a homage to being different and the strengthening of „abnormal“ character traits. It deals with the adaptation of people to socially accepted norms.
In summer 2023, the play was performed by 'die Kleinbürger' at the University Theatre in Mainz directed by Federico Messina. I was part of the production and responsible for the concept and realisation of the stage design.
Image by Yasmin Abbas
Image by Yasmin Abbas
The concept of the stage design translates the theme of character adaptation to social norms into geometric shapes. The elements of the stage are rectangular and represent social constraints.
Elwood is not interested in these constraints. He ignores them and is his own form. This is represented by circles that break out of the angular shapes.
As the play takes place in two different settings, the Dowds‘ house and the sanatorium, the pieces of furniture had to be freely playable and flexibly arranged into different shapes by the actors. Two basic shapes were created, which can be used as a table, a chair, a desk or a bench by turning and assembling them differently.
The colour scheme of the set and especially the costumes underlines the concept. Blue stands for the constraints of society and orange for stubbornness. These colours appear as accents in the background of the stage set. Overall, however, the stage remains in muted colours to allow the costumes to fully unfold.
The stage design serves to support the acting and emphasise the basic messages of the play and is a large part of the production.
Image by Yasmin Abbas