David Bamber is currently starring in Lindsay Posner’s new production of Harvey by Mary Chase. The play is touring the UK before transferring to the West End’s Theatre Royal Haymarket from Tuesday 17th March.
The comedy tells the story of Elwood P. Dowd and his unwavering friendship with a six-foot tall, invisible rabbit. Bamber plays William R. Chumley alongside James Dreyfus as Elwood P. Dowd and Maureen Lipman as Veta Louise Simmons.
Harvey premiered on Broadway in 1944, winning Chase the Pulitzer Prize for Drama the following year. The production was directed by Antoinette Perry, after whom the Tony Awards are named. Harvey premiered in London in 1949 at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
David's theatre credits include: Travels With My Aunt (Menier Chocolate Factory), Troilus And Cressida, The Merchant Of Venice and Honk (all for the National), Sweet Smell Of Success (Arcola), Betty Blue Eyes (Novello), On The Razzle (Chichester), Real Inspector Hound/Black Comedy (West End Warehouse Production), The Cocktail Party (Edinburgh) and My Night With Reg (Royal Court). He is perhaps best known for playing Mr. Collins in the 1995 television series of Pride and Prejudice alongside Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.
I recently spoke to David about why there is more to Harvey than first meets the eye, what people will take away from the piece and reuniting with Lindsay Posner…
How much did you already know about Harvey?
I think that I was principally aware of it as the film which I’d seen a very long time ago with James Stewart who did it on stage as well. I didn’t know that it had been in the West End in the seventies! To be perfectly honest, although I am a man of the theatre, I don’t think I was even aware that it was a stage play when I first saw the film.
