Take a dog. A half-poodle, half-lab concoction. And unite that mutt with a knack for humping and swearing like a sailor’s pooch.
Now throw in a couple - Greg and Kate, whose kids are at college - that is having serious difficulties striking balance between the mutt’s new place in their New York apartment and their own middling relationship.
Toss a few whacked-out characters into the mix and have a woman play that mutt, Sylvia. The equation is simple, but A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia” sure as heck entertains.
Although she plays a mutt, theater freshman Sarah Faix’s portrayal of Sylvia was of quality pedigree. The role lends itself to hilarity, and calls for an actress willing to unabashedly curse out cats, hump and sniff like her life depends on it.
Faix does all of this, and does it well, but could have taken even more dramatic - or over-dramatic - liberties at times. Sylvia is sometimes as hyper as a Chihuahua on speed. Faix is excellent with that aspect of the role, but there were a few remaining drops of dramatic milk to be sucked - at a slower, drama-diva pace - from Sylvia’s random declarative spouts of wisdom.
Emily Mickelson, a theater junior, shines in the thankless role of Kate, an ex-soccer mom-type turned inner-city English teacher who has likely worn sensible shoes since she could walk.
Mickelson believably executes the role, as well as Kate’s slow transformation to a kinder, gentler dog-tolerator.
Sylvia ignites a spark of life in Greg that he hasn’t felt in years. And it was theater senior John P. Sundholm who shows us that spark, in all its cheesy, dog-obsessed glory. What is it about Sylvia that Greg loves? “You take me back in some basic way,” he says to Sylvia on a late-night walk.
Life is screwing, eating and sleeping, he figures, and it takes Sylvia to show him this, after years as a sales guy and a dad. We get a sense of Greg’s WASP-like, pre-Sylvia attitude, then watch him descend into a loopy obsession with his pet.
Three smaller roles added plenty of laughs to the show. English senior Michael Scott Hunter was nothing short of hilarious in his portrayal of Leslie, a wacky, psychotic and questionably gendered therapist.
Tom, played by theater junior R.J. Mahaney, is a real man’s man, with a dog named “Bowsa,” who offers Greg insights on women and dogs and dogs as women, being ambiguously attracted to both. Sure, it wasn’t certain from Mahaney’s accent at times whether Tom was Beantown- or Big Apple-bred, but the audience didn’t seem to mind.
Phyllis, an old friend of Kate’s, is a monumental head-case who spouts advice concerning dogs: “They’re like children, you know; they should be exiled while we eat.” Played by theater senior Lindsey Stakoe, a single gesture or a socialite-esque “humph” brought the house down.
The play’s dialogue is laced with a plethora of expletives that pack comedic punch, especially when they spring forth from Sylvia’s mug. The show is engaging and entertaining, and altogether, strikes a chord with anyone who’s ever owned a pet.
Tickets are $5 and will be available only at the door, beginning one hour before each show.
