“Sylvia”

Posted by Gail M. Burns - July 2011

“Who is Sylvia? what is she…?”

- William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act IV, scene ii

In A.R. Gurney’s 1995 light comedy, Sylvia, she is part poodle and all woman. Succinctly put, Sylvia is a dog*. Not the play, the character. The play is the fluffiest and sweetest of merengues, perfectly concocted by director Anders Cato and a splendid cast. If you are now or ever have been a dog-owner, you will just love this open love letter to the miraculous bond that has developed over the millennia between canines and homo sapiens.

There is a plot, but it is negligible and Gurney dispatches it deus ex machina after he has run out of dog jokes, which is fine by me. The fun here is in seeing the relationship between man and dog played out by two humans – in this case the eminently likeable David Adkins as Greg and Rachel Bay Jones as Sylvia. Greg has a wife, Kate, and Cato and actress Jurian Hughes manage to make much more of her than the plot device that she is.

Forty-something and newly minted empty-nesters, Kate and Greg are both pondering the gap between child-rearing and retirement and both are itching for a change. Kate has earned her Masters’ degree and is passionate about her new career as an English teacher. Greg is fed up with the corporate grind and longs for something more “real.” The open affection, visceral energy, and basic needs of Sylvia, a mutt Greg finds in the park one day (or does she find him?), instantly fills that void, just as she threatens to suck Kate back into the nurturing and subservient role she has finally outgrown. Kate’s inability to embrace Sylvia and her relationship with Greg comprises all the tension in the play. But don’t worry, folks. There’s a happy ending.

Sylvia is a sunny, funny play filled with gentle humor and lots of love and laughs. Along with the central family trio, actor Walter Hudson plays all the other people with whom they interact – Tom, the macho owner of the Sylvia’s dog-park pal, the unneutered Bowser; Phyllis, a prominent Manhattan socialite and old college chum of Kate’s who finds Sylvia a little too “au natural;” and Leslie, the androgynous therapist from whom Greg and Kate seek marital counseling. Hudson hits all the right notes in his whimsical portrayals of these comic stereotypes, who are just there to add to the gentle fun.

There is no doubt in my mind that there really was a dog, or a lifetime parade of wonderful canine companions, in Gurney’s life who he is memorializing in this play. Dogs ARE humankind’s best friend and the unconditional love and open joy they share with us is delightful. There is scientific proof that owning a pet, and holding and petting an animal, lowers the blood pressure and contributes greatly to a person’s overall physical and mental well-being.

Of course I realize that not all people are dog people, and if you really don’t understand what others see in those shedding, slobbery, smelly critters, then this is not the play for you because it is just really all about a dog.

The fun here is watching Jones do all those doggie things, like sulking when asked to get off the couch, enjoying a good belly rub, or tangling herself up in her leash and then repeatedly lifting the wrong leg in an attempt to get untangled. Of course she does all the naughty dog things too – like sticking her nose directly into a visitor’s crotch, piddling on the carpet, and humping someone’s leg. Gurney has written a ton of great material for this role, and Jones hits a nice balance between her obviously human self and Sylvia’s “caninity.”

R. Michael Miller has designed a sleek and cool urban set for this show, which was a welcome sight on a hot and steamy July evening, and which provides ample space for Sylvia’s antics. My only question is why so many sets on the BTF Main Stage have their side walls built at right angles to the front of the stage? This creates pockets of unusable space in the upstage corners, so why not angle the walls? This would give the set designer a greater canvas on which to work and would be a visually appropriate for many sets, including this one.

Jones is an attractive woman, and we have all met dogs who are well aware of their own personal beauty, but I was bothered by the increasing skimpiness and sexiness of Olivera Gajic’s costumes for him. There is no hint of ANY sexual element to Greg’s attachment to Sylvia, and there are many more appropriate ways to show her increasing beauty and elegance in his eyes. But I suppose a little eye-candy will not hurt ticket sales. Gajic’s costumes for Adkins and Hughes perfectly defined their age and socio-economic status perfectly, and the ones for Hudson transitioned him from male to female to guess-my-gender without being cartoonish and detracting from the actor’s fine performance.

As I walked back to my car I overheard many conversations about their pets. And I know that as I sat in the theatre I was thinking not only of the pair of ridiculous miniature dachshunds that I own now, but about all the dogs who have gone before them in my life. What joy our pets bring us how pleasant to spend a summer evening reliving that special bond.

Click HERE for a complete photo gallery for this production.

The Berkshire Theatre Group production of A. R. Gurney’s Sylvia runs July 12-30 at Berkshire Theatre Festival’s Main Stage, 6 East Street, Stockbridge, MA. The show runs two and a half hours with one intermission and is suitable for everyone who loves dogs, with the caveat that there are some four-letter words uttered in the course of the play. (Cat lovers should be warned that most of those words are lobbed by Sylvia at unsuspecting felines!) Tickets range from $49-$15 and may be purchased at the BTF (413-298-5576) box office.

* Yes, I know that Sylvia is NOT a dog, she is a bitch, but there are obvious reasons why I will not use that word to refer to her in this review.

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