Theatre Review: ‘Sylvia’ at Dillard Playhouse receives ‘five stars’

“Sylvia” that played at the Dillard Playhouse was a tail-wagging tale about a man and his new dog, eponymously named Sylvia.

Director Foy Tootle had been yearning to walk Sylvia into the theatre for years, since first seeing an off-Broadway production starring Sarah Jessica Parker back in the 1990s.

He recently directed Sylvia in Highlands, and now brought the cast and his concept to the Playhouse in Dillard City Hall, where the host company North Georgia Community Players performs several times a year.

Foy’s talented wife, Julie Best stars as Sylvia, a street-smart Heinz 57 doggy who jumps onto the lap of a depressed middle-aged guy in the midst of a self-pitying mid-life crisis. Greg (played by veteran actor David Spivey), throws all the zest for life he has left in his sad soul into his new best friend. His wife Kate (the excellent Julie Harris), is none too pleased. Hilarity and pathos follow.

Before going further, I give it five stars.

Back to the review. There are no spoilers here, but you gotta know: The dog talks. A lot.

Both Greg and Kate can hear her speak, and Sylvia hears and understands them. Obviously, this play requires some suspension of disbelief, which comes readily. Sylvia’s dialogues with Greg are just like imagined dialogues with our own pets: we try to explain and we really want to believe they understand.

Best, as Sylvia, is a show unto herself as she rolls about the floor, scratches, thumps, jumps on the furniture, and goodness, what she has to say about cats…...

Be advised some of the dialogue is a bit spicy and the show is rated PG13. But, as we shall see, one of the actors is a real-life pastor, which should help calm any worries. He’s good with it.

While Sylvia is a comedy, playwright AR Gurney weaves psychology, relationships, and even Shakespeare into Sylvia’s plot. Harris, as wife Kate, is a New York City public school teacher whose career is blossoming. Her passion for Shakespeare could become her gateway to greatness, both for herself and for her vision of bringing the Bard to public school kids.

Her dreams crash against her husband’s falling fortunes, especially as Greg retreats more and more into his obsession with his dog.

Tootle explains, “I wanted the human interactions, after Sylvia establishes herself, to reflect the obsessions that dogs, and of course other distractions, can bring into relationships.”

Yes, indeed.

When originally brought to the stage, Kate’s personality was more hard-hearted. On the

Dillard stage, Harris plays Kate with deeper empathy, not as the play’s villain. Harris says,

“Kate’s objections to having a dog in a small New York City apartment are certainly reasonable, but sometimes life’s relationships require more empathy than reason!”

So how does the conflict between husband and wife, catalyzed by the dog, resolve?

Tootle says it’s “the ability of love to quash adversity. It’s all about opening minds and hearts, on stage, in the audience, with pets, relationships….life!”

In our modern world, many marriages in crisis look for help from outside: friends, professionals, heck barbers and bartenders. And of course, pets.

In Sylvia, the human help comes from Pastor Randy Lucas who takes on three roles, playing both men and women.

Each role – a fellow dog owner in Central Park, a good friend of Kate’s, and a genderbending marriage counselor — builds into greater and greater confrontation and confusion, until he (or is it she?) can take no more. Lucas’ hilarious meltdown as a marriage counselor is one to remember.

The epilogue and resolution of this completely endearing and funny play will absolutely, positively, tug at your heartstrings, and might very well bring a happy tear to the eye.

Dogs can do that.

Part of author Gurney’s message is that while we can benefit from the help of others, such as friends and professionals, ultimately we are responsible for ourselves and for our families, which includes our pets. That’s why the cast and crew decided to invite two local animal rescue shelters to distribute information in the theatre lobby: Another Chance Rescue in Lakemont and Appalachian Animal Rescue in Franklin, N.C. There’s no obligation. Just a wonderful opportunity. You can find out more about the shelters at ngcommunityplayers.com.

See you at the Theatre!