PULITZER Prize-winning play Harvey – most widely known as a movie starring James Stewart – is coming to the stage in Abingdon.

Harvey, a six foot-plus white rabbit, is the invisible – and presumably imaginary – friend of an affable fellow by the name of Elwood P Dowd.

Elwood introduces Harvey to everyone he meets, but with his social-climbing sister Veta increasingly finding his eccentric behaviour embarrassing, she decides on a drastic course of action.

The play by Mary Chase is being brought to life by members of the Oxford-based Studio Theatre Club (STC) at the Unicorn Theatre in Checker Walk from Wednesday to Saturday, March 18 to 21.

Dan Booth plays the lead role of Elwood, whose sister, Veta (Kath Leighton), faced with the question of whether Harvey really exists, is determined he does not.

She wants her brother committed to a sanatorium to spare her and daughter Myrtle Mae (Victoria Maskell) from future embarrassment. However, when they arrive at the establishment to see a psychiatrist, a comedy of errors ensues.

The work is directed for STC by Matt Kirk, who has loved the play since he first saw the movie as a boy “What I loved about the film was its startling lack of cynicism,” he said. “Here was a film that said that eccentricities were OK, that being a bit of an oddball was fine. If you weren’t hurting anyone, then what was the problem?”

The 1944 play won American playwright Chase the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1945.

Its themes involve the importance of kindness and decency in the face of an increasingly cynical world – and are just as important today as they were in the 1940s. As Elwood says: “In this world, you must be oh, so smart, or oh, so pleasant. For years, I was smart. I recommend pleasant.”

Elwood’s case at the sanatorium is taken on with varying degrees of success by Dr Chumley (Stephen Briggs), Dr Sanderson (Jamie Crowther), Nurse Kelly (Debs McKenna) and Wilson (Mike MacDonald).

The remainder of the cast includes Jon Shepherd as Judge Gaffney, Val Shelley as Mrs Chauvenet, Mary Horan as Mrs Chumley, Stephane Capezzone as EJ Lofgren and Lucie Kendrick, doubling as Miss Johnson and Mrs Chumley.

The play has been adapted for film and television several times, most notably in the 1950 film starring Hollywood legend Stewart. The original Broadway production ran for more than 1,700 performances, making it the sixth longest-running, non-musical, play in Broadway history.

Tickets for STC’s production are £9.50 and £8 for over-65s and under-16s. They are available by emailing stephenpbriggs@gmail.com or calling 01865 778105.