Monday, April 13, 2009

Theater Review: Sylvia

By Dennis Sloan of John Garcia's The Column

Just north of Dallas, Theatre Coppell is presenting A.R. Gurney's Sylvia this month. Though the script may be a tad too formulaic and charming for some, the performances and production values at Theatre Coppell are proving that our smaller community theatres are sometimes unfairly overlooked.

Sylvia is a simple play, really, about a marriage that enters new territory when Greg (Gary Walters) and Kate (Becky Walters) find themselves in the proverbial "empty nest." While Kate uses the opportunity to reinvent her career, Greg introduces an interesting complication - a dog named Sylvia, who just happens to be played by a human actor (Marianne Galloway). Kate doesn't want Sylvia, but Greg is consumed by her in an odd moment of mid-life crisis. The conflict over Sylvia, of course, leads to bigger conflict in the changing marriage. The play certainly has some interesting (if sometimes overly quaint) things to say about marriage and relationships. Even if it won't go down as one of the great plays of the American theatrical cannon, it's clever and amusing. Saturday night's audience enjoyed a good many laughs, and the intermission was abuzz with knowing discussion - it seems the mid-life dog problem is a very common one.

The performances in Theatre Coppell's Sylvia are generally to be commended. While Ms. Walters appears a little nervous and stumbles over a few of her lines, she stays connected to Mr. Walters throughout the production (yes, they're married in real life, too). Mr. Walters displays a natural ease on stage, delivering his lines at times with an appealing gentleness and at times with a fiery passion. His love for Sylvia seems totally genuine, as do his interactions with the play's three smaller characters. Terry Colquitt takes a successful comedic turn in these smaller roles, creating three distinct personalities; his sense of timing is spot on, even if he does occasionally fight to conceal a grin at the ridiculousness of his task.

As Sylvia, Galloway really is the star of the show. Her energy is appropriately boundless given that she plays a dog, but her performance remains focused and specific at every moment. A lesser actor might have been all over the map, but Galloway displays an exquisite sense of craft. Galloway's smartest choice is that she never gets above the role and never plays exclusively for laughs; her Sylvia is a fully developed personality - a genuine character rather than as a caricature. What's more, Galloway's Sylvia is incredibly likable - even when she's maddeningly irritating. Is there any more accurate way to describe a dog?

Design elements are also commendable. Theatre Coppell operates in a very nice thrust space, though it is perhaps not used to its best advantage here. Robert Batson's set design is necessarily simple; it's attractive, but the couple's living room (where most scenes take place) is restricted to the far upstage area, eliminating some opportunities for the interesting staging that a thrust setting can provide. Sally Box's costumes are both well-conceived and well-realized; at every moment, the costumes just look "right." To find the appropriate human clothing for an actor playing a dog seems a fairly difficult task, but Box meets the challenge beautifully.

Aside from the lack of true thrust staging, George Morrow provides clear and skillful direction. The staging is both clean and effective and the production is paced well. Morrow's best choices, of course, are in casting.

Sylvia runs through April 26. Purchase tickets online or by calling 972-745-7719.

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