Sylvia by A. R. Gurney, The Theatre at Hendry Hall, 815 East 11 St., North Vancouver. Feb. 2 to 17. For more information visit northvanplayers.ca.
There’s something of an unorthodox love triangle at the heart of North Vancouver Community Players latest production.
Sylvia, premiering tonight at The Theatre at Hendry Hall in North Vancouver, follows the midlife crisis ordeal of characters Greg, Kate and the titular Sylvia. Greg and Kate are a longtime married human couple; Sylvia is a dog.
“They have reached a turning point in their lives in that they moved back into the city, their youngest child has gone off to college and Kate’s pursuing an exciting new career,” explains Kathleen Denkewalter, the play’s director. “But Greg is really unhappy at his career and in his life.”
One day Greg finds a homeless mutt (Sylvia) in the park. In the midst of his own personal midlife crisis, Sylvia functions as a kind of stand-in for Greg to pour his heart and soul into, the same way a dog, despite their lack of any discernable understanding, can become a sympathetic companion for someone during times of trouble or unrest.
Having Sylvia around is a way for Greg to project his own inner dissatisfactions, Denkewalter explains.
“It’s reflective that sometimes when we have a midlife crisis that often someone will look for someone other than their spouse that they feel understands them. And that’s the thing about Sylvia – she understands what Greg is talking about. She gives him feedback, she listens to him,” she says.
Sylvia just happens to be a dog being played by a female actor, Denkewalter says, noting the potentially shocking perception of having a woman playing a four-legged friend.
“When the play was originally written and produced in 1995 there was some controversy over the fact of having a woman play a dog,” she says, adding that the play – which is a comedy – isn’t attempting to flout feminism’s conventions, but rather encourages audiences to embrace the comedic role the character must embody and the hilarity that ensues.
“It’s a lot of fun to watch this dog and see what she’s up to, and also see their interactions with her as if she is a human,” she says. “She does doggy things: she plays tricks and she scratches fleas – but she’s not down on her hands and knees.”
In fact, Denkewalter notes, it might take a minute for audiences to realize that Sylvia’s character – who talks, listens and interacts with Greg and Kate – is even a dog. (Apologies for the spoilers.)
But Sylvia’s dog-like mannerisms eventually give her away, much to the delight of Greg and the chagrin of Kate.
The cast is rounded out with Francis Boyle playing Greg, Colleen Byberg as Kate, and Mitchell Mackay portraying a host of secondary characters.
The character of Sylvia is portrayed by actor Starlise Waschuk, who recently moved to Deep Cove from Alberta.
She says that she worked diligently as soon as rehearsals got underway in November to capture the essence of what it means to portray a dog.
“I never grew up with any dogs but all my friends had dogs because they lived on acres – and you know what, Vancouver has a lot of dogs,” she says. “You go for a walk and you find yourself seeing a bunch of dogs.”
Besides learning the mannerisms of a dog – the tilted head, the curious stare – she says she was really taken with the look of genuine adoration that dogs seem to have for their owners.
“Be the person your dog thinks you are, which is also just really sweet,” Waschuk says.
Denkewalter first saw a production of Sylvia in the early 2000s. The play, which was written by A. R. Gurney and originally premiered off-Broadway in the mid 1990s, stuck with her due to its comedic chops and insightful look at people in a transitory period of life.
As a more than 30-year veteran with North Vancouver Community Players, she’s no stranger when it comes to picking engrossing works for the stage.
“It’s a very interesting look at people in midlife crisis, and people whose marriages and lives have become stale,” she says. “Because it’s a comedy, of course, it has a happy ending. Greg is forced to choose between his wife and the dog and, well, I won’t give away the ending …”
Sylvia runs through Feb. 17.
