MARK DUMEZ
A sweeping statement: Science often discounts mystery. The quest for knowledge might sweep the jester off the stage, clean up the fool and try to cleverly eradicate, through measure, fact and study, the place of the trickster. Some think the more we know – the more we know. Others are of the mind that the more we know, the more there is to discover. And in this dance of knowing and not knowing, we might be mindful to keep the jester at the party.
Enigma, myth, the profound mystery – the wise recognize at some point that we are not as big as we think we are. The trickster, in many cultures, helps to illuminate this child-like understanding.
And so, we welcome Harvey. Like Shakespeare’s Puck – he is a Pooka. And, in being a thing unseen for some and seen for others, examines our faith in what is beyond the regular senses. Perhaps he is a mask for a drinking problem, perhaps a debilitating mental illness, or, in another reading of his antics, a bearer of light and levity into Elwood’s once dreary life – enabling him to be present with all. If the latter, wouldn’t you like to meet him? It’s been a thrill to tread the boards again – enjoy the show!
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