Men who spend the day talking to invisible friends are much better company in a fictional setting than when encountered in Kapiolani Park or monopolizing a Kalakaua Avenue bus stop. Men whose invisible friends can reveal themselves to others exist only in works of fiction, and none is more charming than Elwood P. Dowd as played by Sam Polson in The Actors Group’s season-opening production of "Harvey."

This is Polson’s third time playing Elwood at TAG and once again he does such a magnificent job that it is almost as if playwright Mary Chase had him in mind when she wrote "Harvey" almost 70 years ago. True, Jimmy Stewart was clean-shaven when he played Elwood in the definitive 1950 film, but given Elwood’s gentle eccentricity, Polson’s beard works. He and director David C. Farmer build on that slightly off-kilter foundation in illuminating the key — sometimes conflicting — components of the character.

At times Elwood seems completely detached from reality and oblivious to the fact that many of the people who drink on his tab are laughing at him behind his back. At other times he seems extremely perceptive and deliberately going his own way: "I’ve wrestled with reality for 60 years," he says, "and I finally won."

There are also times when Polson shades his performance with discordant notes. The scenes where Elwood focuses like a laser on a hot young nurse suggest he may have the potential to be less harmless than he seems.

Chase leaves no doubt that Elwood really does have an invisible friend, a benign shape-shifter known as a pooka, who looks like a giant anthropomorphic white rabbit and goes by the name of Harvey. Elwood’s widowed sister, Vita Louise, finds him a constant source of embarrassment. She decides that her social position, and her daughter’s chances of finding a husband, will improve tremendously if her brother is declared mentally incompetent and confined in a mental hospital.

Several members of the cast stand out in supporting roles. Bob Hamilton (Dr. Chumley) gives a marvelous performance in the scene where the psychiatrist who is planning to confine Elwood turns the tables and confides in him. Patricia Gillespie is a serviceable villain throughout Act I and then succeeds in making Vita Louise’s emotional growth appear natural. Lauren Murata (Myrtle Mae) is a hoot in the scene where her character is revealed to be sexually repressed, and again in the scenes where she encounters a hunky psychiatric aide (D. Tafai Silipa) at the hospital. The show is Silipa’s first shot at a straight romantic role albeit one with comic shadings; it certainly should not be his last.

S. Rick Crump injects a moment of quiet realism into this comedy/fantasy with his no-nonsense performance as the cab driver.

Adriane Flowers (Nurse Kelly) plays the nurse without the cartoonishness that impacted TAG’s 2002 production.

Set changes are a necessary evil in almost all productions but the choreography involved in making them here is actually entertaining.

Two hours or so spent in the company of Elwood P. Dowd is still time well spent.