`SYLVIA' PACKS COMEDIC BITE : CANINE CAPER ALL TOO HUMAN.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer For inspiration in portraying a dog on stage, Julie Warder looked to her own pooch, a stray she picked up six months ago and describes as ``Benji with an underbite underbite /un·der·bite/ (un´der-bit) retrognathism. un·der·bite n. Malocclusion in which the lower teeth overlap the upper teeth. .'' Warder hopes that dog owners will see a little bit of their own pooch in her character, the title role in ``Sylvia,'' a Cedar Street Theatre production that will open tonight in the Lancaster Performing Arts Center A performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is a multi-use performance space that can be adapted for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre. . So how does one think like a dog? ``Have no thoughts and love everything and everybody and you're a dog,'' Warder said. ``Sylvia,'' written by A.R. Gurney gurney /gur·ney/ (gur´ne) a wheeled cot used in hospitals. gur·ney n. pl. gur·neys A metal stretcher with wheeled legs, used for transporting patients. , is about how a stray dog disrupts a couple's life. Wearing a name tag that reads ``Sylvia,'' the part poodle poodle, popular breed of dog probably originating in Germany but generally associated with France, where it has been raised for centuries. There are three varieties, differing in size only. , part Labrador retriever Labrador retriever, breed of large sporting dog whose origins are obscure but whose immediate ancestors were developed in Newfoundland and brought to England in the early 1800s. It stands about 23 in. (58.4 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs between 60 and 75 lb (27. is taken in by Greg, played by David Wright David Wright may refer to:
``Sylvia has a lot of human characteristics,'' Warder said. ``Greg sees her as a human being, not a dog. He makes her the other woman.'' Wright's real-life wife, Ann, plays Greg's stage wife, Kate, who is not pleased with the new addition to the household. ``The dog really disrupts her whole life,'' Ann Wright Mary Ann Wright (born 1947) is a retired United States Army colonel, retired official of the U.S. State Department, and now full-time anti-war activist. Wright is most noted for being one of three U.S. said. ``He (Greg) feels he needs this dog and she can't understand why. She feels usurped.'' ``Sylvia,'' Wright says, has a lot to say about the need to shake up one's life occasionally. ``It's a good play for dog lovers,'' Wright said. ``People will be saying, `My dog does that, my dog does that' all through the play.'' David Wright describes the play as an interesting twist on the midlife crisis midlife crisis n. A period of psychological doubt and anxiety that some people experience in middle age. midlife crisis theme. ``The twist is that the other woman - the younger, more exciting woman - that replaces the older woman is a dog,'' David Wright said. Also appearing in the play is Joseph Barnard, who plays three roles: another dog owner who Greg meets in a park, a psychiatrist, and a friend of Greg and Kate's. While ``Sylvia'' is a comedy about dogs, it is not a children's show, Warder said. There are adult situations and the comedy is geared toward older audiences. Warder plays the role without a dog costume - just the name tag. ``Sylvia,'' directed by Louis Sacco, will be performed in the Black Box auxiliary theater at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center, 750 W. Lancaster Blvd. It will be performed tonight, Saturday and Sunday and again March 21-23. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 p.m. and Sunday performances are at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10. ``SYLVIA'' WHEN: 8 p.m. today; 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; 8 p.m. March 21; 8 p.m. March 22; 2 p.m. March 23. WHERE: Black Box auxiliary theater at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center, 750 W. Lancaster Blvd. TICKETS: $10, (805) 723-5950. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Box Photo: (1-2--Color) Above, Sylvia (Julie Warder) learns a trick from Greg (David Wright) during a rehearsal of the play ``Sylvia.'' Left, Tom (Joseph Barnard) and Greg (David Wright) listen to director Louis Sacco explain a scene. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News Box: ``SYLVIA'' (See text) |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion