Poo and Pooches

For people and the pets that love them.

For anyone who owns a dog, loves a dog, or has summoned a dog to a corner after it chewed the sofa, “Sylvia,” opening this week at the Delaware Theatre Company, is your play.

“Sylvia” is a love story, of sorts. The plot reveals a romantic triangle between Greg and Kate, a married, middle-aged New York couple, and a frisky blonde named Sylvia. Greg is going through his selfish phase. He hates his job. And his mid-life crisis is an annoyance to Kate. Sylvia breathes life into Greg’s mundane existence. He’s a guy. He can’t resist.

Oh, yes: Sylvia is a dog.

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The play has been successfully produced at DTC before. Its 1995 premiere at the Manhattan Theatre Club earned stellar reviews by New York Times critic Vincent Canby, who described “Sylvia” as being “so full of theatrical intelligence and writerly skill that it consistently pleases, even when, like a dog, it makes a slight mess.”

Yes, there’s an occasional literary poo here and there, but the overall piece is fun and engaging. “Sylvia” explores the institutional-ness of the institution of marriage, but it also yet offers several truly poignant moments—not to mention hope for marrieds who care enough to stick it out.

A tidbit: When the play premiered at the Manhattan Theater Club in 1995, Charles Kimbrough played Greg, Blythe Danner was Kate, and Sarah Jessica Parker played the pooch.

“Sylvia” runs though November 7.

Contact info:
Delaware Theatre Company
200 Water St., Wilmington
594-1100
www.delawaretheatre.org
 

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