Avila Alum returns to alma mater to direct Harvey at Black Box

By Kady Cramer

Avila alum, Tyler MacSweeney will return to the University to direct the production of Harvey December 15 – 17 at the Frantze Family Black Box Theater, 11901 Wornall Rd. It is presented by First Act Theater Arts out of Overland Park.

In the play, Elwood P. Dowd is an affable man who claims to have an unseen (and presumably imaginary) friend Harvey – whom Elwood describes as a six foot, three-and-one-half inch tall rabbit. The confusion becomes the comedy. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1945.

“The thing I love the most about Harvey is the heart behind it,” says MacSweeney. “It has a wonderful message about people and how we perceive each other.”

“It’s a constant pursuit of knowing that the world is so big and so vast and there’s so many problems,” he says. “And that Dowd presents Harvey as this thing that is grander and more powerful than all of that. It helps you enjoy life…enjoy people… and see the good in others rather than just the constant negatives and distractions that we all get caught up in. That’s the thing that made me fall in love with this play.”

Harvey was the second play he read as a young actor and has remained one of his favorites.

MacSweeney attended his first theater class at First Act Theater Arts when he was just 14.

“I remember I just really did not want to go to that class,” chuckles MacSweeney. “But after the first five to ten minutes of the class, it was already so much fun. I fell in love with it almost immediately.”

Performing in university productions such as Little Shop of Horrors, MacSweeney naturally morphed into a directing role.

“I’ve always been interested in storytelling. Ever since I was little, I loved to write. Even on the playground I would be directing people around. I always had a mind and passion for that.”

MacSweeney became Assistant Director on War of the Worlds and others at Avila before graduating in 2019 and partnering with First Act Theater, directing classics such as Footloose, James and the Giant Peach, and Freaky Friday.

Performances will take place December 15 at 7 p.m., December 16 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and December 17 at 2 p.m. Visit firstactkc.org for details and ticket information.