On & Off Broadway

‘Sylvia’

Reviewed by Elyse Trevers

Posted

If you are a “dog person,” you often plan your day around your pet’s walks and mealtimes. No matter what kind of mood you might be in, your pet is loving and adoring. So it’s easy to understand Greg’s infatuation with the stray dog Sylvia that he finds in the park in the revival of A.R. Gurney’s comedy, Sylvia.

In the play, Greg (Matthew Broderick) is a middle-aged man, unhappy with work. His boss wants him to sell financial instruments that Greg declares are not “real.” His wife Kate, the always wonderful Julie White, has a promising career in education and the couple has moved from the suburbs to the city. Their children are in college, so now they have found freedom.

Sylvia has brought new dimensions to Greg’s life and he begins to take time off from work to be with her. In fact, she has become like “the other woman.” When Julie gets a grant to work in England but Sylvia can’t come with them, Greg decides to stay home with the dog.


The play is extremely light and entertaining, primarily because Sylvia is played by actress Annaleigh Ashford. Winner of a Tony Award for You Can’t Take it With You, she scratches, preens, chews shoes and sneaks up on the couch. The lithe blonde is limber and athletic, constantly stretching and writhing around on the floor. In one of the funniest scenes of the play, she goes berserk at the sight of a cat, cursing and lunging at it. Julie White is funny as the beleaguered Kate, making faces in dismay and exasperation. Fortunately for the audience, she gets the best lines or, at least, delivers them best. Some dialogue is directly from Shakespeare.

The biggest problem with the play is Mathew Broderick, who no matter what the role, is always the same straight-faced boring performer. Even as the leading man in Nice Work If You Can Get It, he showed little range. When Sylvia goes off into the woods with Bowser, another dog, Greg is aghast at her promiscuity. But even when calling her a slut, Broderick sounds the same. His intonation barely changes.

The show is a pleasant diversion, and Robert Sella, who plays three roles, that of another dog owner (who takes great prowess at his dog’s sexual exploits), a female friend of Kate’s, and the androgynous therapist, adds a lot of humor.

There are some laughs at Sylvia and Ashford is adorable. The comedy is light but undoubtedly popular with high school and community theater groups. You’ll enjoy it while you are there, unless like, me, you need to rush home and take care of the dog.

Reviewed by Elyse Trevers