Upon reading a brief synopsis of Harvey, a play about a grown man who has an imaginary six-foot tall rabbit friend, and being warned by the ticket office man, “Just keep in mind that it’s all done by first-time students,” I was pretty sure I knew all I needed to know about the play I was about to see.

But I was wrong — the Parkland College students who produced this Pulitzer Prize-winning play blew me away. Harvey is the Parkland Theatre’s 17th annual student production. Audience members were seated onstage in very close proximity to the set, which struck me as unique and unusual. The setup felt much more intimate than sitting offstage.

Harvey is the story of a high society family in the mid-forties. Socialite Veta Louise Simmons and daughter Myrtle Mae Simmons live with Simmons’ brother, Elwood P. Dowd, in the estate left in Dowd’s name by her late mother. Ever the socialite, Simmons is consumed with keeping the family name highly respectable. Consequently, she tirelessly keeps her brother, Dowd, away from important society members because he constantly speaks of his six-foot-tall rabbit friend named Harvey — who is invisible and doesn’t exist, according to Veta ... or does he?

Wherever Dowd goes, Harvey goes. Dowd even carries a second jacket and hat (complete with two rabbit ear holes) everywhere he goes. Simmons attempts to put Dowd in the sanatorium in the hopes that he will stop making the family seem loony. Even though Simmons tires of hiding Dowd and Harvey, she admits that she sometimes sees Harvey too. Eventually, Simmons decides not to have Dowd treated, Harvey or no Harvey.

The Parkland students’ performances were impressive and believable, putting to rest any worries that the ticket office may have given me, as well as my own reservations. The themes of familial love and friendship were relatable and completely heart-warming.