Come! Sit! Stay!, and See Sylvia at Burlington County Footlighters

by Meg Bryan

“Is she kind as she is fair?

For beauty lives with kindness.

Love doth to her eyes repair,

To help him of his blindness;

And, being helped, inhabits there.”

• Who is Silvia? What is she: Shakespeare

At its core, Sylvia by A.R. Gurney is a story that showcases the well known relationship of man and man’s best friend, albeit in the most exaggerated sense. The show tackles love and conflict in multiple different senses as well as, sometimes quite accurately, depicting what it looks like to be a dog owner, especially a new one. Anyone who’s ever owned a pet can relate to the deep and almost parental feelings you can have towards them, and as Director Chrissy Wick writes in her playbill note, those pets in turn “provide us a sense of companionship, loyalty, and unconditional love.” The cast at Burlington County Footlighter’s 2nd Stage lets us into the wacky and hilarious storyline of this play, keeping our attention at every moment.

Set Designers and Constructors Edwin Howard and Jim Frazer utilize the intimate setting of 2nd Stage beautifully, crafting the living area of a gorgeous New York City apartment. The audience seating is in incredibly close proximity to the actors, even from the second of two rows, and this show is one of the few that works very well in that type of setting. It felt, at times, that we were a part of the scene that was played out before us. Lighting and sound, designed by Frazer and Heidi Kleber-Salamone respectively, were fairly minimal, but the cues worked very well when it came to executing scene changes. The furniture of the apartment never left the stage and was only shifted and covered by black cloth during the scene change time by Stage Crew Tim Kirk and Harrison Hoover, so the light and sound cues were integral to pulling off those scene changes convincingly which the crew absolutely achieved. In addition to the sound cues throughout the show, there was a playlist played before the show and at intermission full of easily recognizable 90s music, further helping to place us in the proper time period. The direction from Wick and Assistant Director Jeanne Wayman allows the cast not to get stuck in one part of the stage and utilizes the set perfectly. Each motion felt purposeful, but also believable to be a natural everyday movement, especially when it came to the difficult task of moving like a dog would.

The play opens with Greg, played by Doug Suplee, a middle-aged business man going through some kind of depressive mid-life crisis, coming home to his apartment with easily excitable stray dog Sylvia, played by Kori Rife, in tow. It is immediately clear that Sylvia idolizes Greg since he rescued her from the streets, expressing to him that he is her God. When his Shakespeare-quoting English teacher wife, Kate, played by Kacy Hofstetter, arrives at the apartment, she is immediately annoyed at the idea of housing a dog, stating that it isn’t the right time in their lives for a dog as she’s enjoying their newfound freedom after their children have all gone off to college. Kate sees Sylvia as a disruptive, needy presence that threatens her peace and her marriage. Greg, on the other hand, finds Sylvia revitalizing as she reignites his sense of purpose, giving him comfort and companionship. While Greg and Sylvia continue to connect despite Kate’s blatant disdain for the pet, we are introduced to a few more characters, all played by Amber Stolarski, along the way: Tom, a fellow dog owner that Greg encounters at the dog park with some interesting literary recommendations; Phyllis, a sophisticated friend of Kate’s whose visit with Sylvia goes hilariously awry; and Leslie, a marriage counselor who helps to bring Greg and Kate some peace of mind during their disagreements.

Rife made it impossible to keep your eyes off of her as Sylvia. Her physical commitment was remarkable, perfectly covering every mannerism a dog may have from the tail wags and panting to the ear scratches and walking in circles before laying down on the floor or couch. Through her expressive body language, she conveyed Sylvia’s energy and playfulness that made her performance as a dog incredibly believable. Not only did Rife have phenomenal physicality throughout every emotional change, but she also vocally mastered Sylvia’s rapid shifts from giddy affection to sharp jealousy. Overall, she brought a magnetic energy to the stage, making the audience smile at each moment she entered. Suplee brings an understated humor to Greg, conveying the turmoil of his internal mid-life conflict with quiet vulnerability. He is genuine when portraying Greg’s infatuation with Sylvia, letting the absurdity of talking to a dog like a lover land naturally rather than forced. As much as the obsession with Sylvia is incredibly intense, Suplee does a fantastic job of making it realistic, never pushing anything to the point that it wouldn’t be believable.

Hofstetter is elegant yet sarcastic as Kate, moving through her multitudes of emotions expertly. Her initial conflict was immediately apparent, being so vehemently against having a dog but wanting to be understanding of her husband whom she loves so deeply. As the story pressed on and her boundaries continued to be pushed past and ignored, she lets Kate’s simmering irritation boil over into moments of hilarious release, whether it be directed at Greg or even Sylvia herself. Hofstetter brought complexity to Kate, making her more than just the stereotype of a nagging wife. Instead, she shows us a woman with quiet strength fighting to reclaim space in her own life. Stolarski rounds out the cast, circulating through three distinctly different characters with equal mastery. As the recurring dog owner, Tom, she leans into a more masculine vocal timbre and physicality without crossing a line into caricature. When she becomes the opposingly feminine Phyllis, she is graceful and sophisticated with uppity undertones and adds an ever so slight New York accent into her dialogue. The therapist Leslie is written purposefully as androgynous, explicitly stating that their gender is meant to be a mystery, and she presents that wonderfully with neutral mannerisms, both vocally and physically. It can be a difficult task to effectively portray multiple characters that are extremely different in nature, but Stolarski completes this task effortlessly with help from her three costumes being stylistically different and easy to discern (no costumer credited).

Sylvia was a charming and heartwarming journey to go on, and it’s one that I’m glad I went into blind. As a major animal lover myself, it had me laughing not just from the absurdity of the story, but also from the relatable details all dog owners experience from the overwhelming joy when you arrive at home after many long years (maybe an hour) to the incessant barking at cats and sometimes nothing at all. If you are an animal lover yourself, you will not want to miss this production! Sylvia runs now through Saturday October 28, you can purchase tickets here: https://tickets.bcfootlighters.com/show/sylvia