Dog forms ‘love triangle’ with couple in Warner Robins Little Theatre’s ‘Sylvia’

Warner Robins Little Theatre has gone to the dog, literally, this month with the performance of A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia,” a play about the adjustments and oftentimes comical outcomes of bringing a New York City street dog into a home of middle-age “empty nesters.”

The play, directed by Michael Castle, first appeared off Broadway in 1995 with Sarah Jessica Parker starring as the canine lead role of Sylvia, according to Michael Castle, the director of WRLT’s production. It was revived on Broadway in 2015 with Parker’s husband, Matthew Broderick, starring in the lead male role of Greg.

Castle describes the play as a love triangle between a husband, a wife and a dog. The husband, Greg (Drisco Clemons) works on Wall Street in an investment firm and is on the brink of a midlife crisis, and he really doesn’t enjoy what he does for a living. He eventually comes to the realization life doesn’t make sense anymore.

As the play opens, Castle said, Greg has gotten into an argument with his boss and has left work. He has gone to Central Park for the afternoon and fallen asleep in the sun on a bench when all of sudden he is awakened by Sylvia (Christina Fletcher), a streetwise canine who jumps into his lap. The two of them bond, and Greg brings her home to his apartment. His wife, Kate (Mary Ann Stennis Berry), who has a master’s degree in education and is a middle school teacher in New York City school system, is planning to introduce Shakespeare into a junior high school in Harlem. Consequently, she does not have time for, nor does she want to have anything to do with, a dog.

“She does not want to walk a dog, have a dog on the couch … she is pretty much anti-dog,” Castle said.

Sylvia, on the other hand, being part lab and part poodle, wants to please everybody, so the love triangle begins there, Castle said. Greg loves Kate and Sylvia; Sylvia loves Greg; Kate does not like Sylvia, but Sylvia tries to get Kate to like her.

“(Sylvia) tries repeatedly to be nice to Kate … she realizes that the only way Greg can be happy (is if) Kate is happy,” Castle said. “She cannot be there unless Kate is happy with her, but the one part of the triangle just does not work.”

As a result of this triangle, Castle said a majority of the play revolves around how to fit Sylvia into the couple’s lives and how to become happier people all around.

“(Greg) starts as the basic Wall Street drone, and by the end of the play, he turns his life around and ends up working for Wildlife Conservancy International,” he said. “It’s a happy ending, but a little bittersweet. … Greg rescues Sylvia from life on the street and uncertain circumstances, and she rescues him from a life wasted on things he doesn’t like to do ... things that are more real.”

The play, which runs a little less than two hours, consists of seven characters, but only four actors, Castle said. Renee Craycraft, of Warner Robins, plays three roles: Tom, another dog owner Greg meets at a dog park; Phyllis, Kate’s socialite friend; and Leslie, a marriage counselor.

For the part of Sylvia, Fletcher is dressed in human clothing and walks upright, Castle said, so it takes “a little stretch of the imagination” for the show to work. However, Castle said he knew instantly in auditions that Fletcher was person for the canine role.

“Christina is a very strong actress, and she is Sylvia at heart — wild, crazy and a little bit nuts,” he said. “I needed a very strong creative actress to play Sylvia. ... the audience has to believe she is a dog the minute she steps on stage, otherwise everything falls apart. Christina was everything I ever hoped for at audition.”

“It is a cute, cute play,” Fletcher said. “As soon as I found out Warner Robins Little Theater was producing it … I knew I just had to be Sylvia.”

Fletcher, who is a dog lover, said the play includes a lot of nuances of bringing a dog home as well as the adjustment period that both dog lovers and non-lovers alike can relate to.

“Overall, it is my personality,” she said. “I am a hyper, full of energy person already. (Sylvia) tries to partake in every part of life ... see everything smell everything go everywhere.”

Debbie Martin is the play’s producer and Leslie Castlel is the stage manager. The play has adult language, so Castle said it is more for a mature crowd.

This story was originally published September 11, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Dog forms ‘love triangle’ with couple in Warner Robins Little Theatre’s ‘Sylvia’."