A.R. Gurney’s ‘Sylvia’ @ Onstage in Bedford
Show photos by Michael C. Foster
—Jan Farrington
A dog in an empty Manhattan apartment begins to sing:
Every time we say good-bye
I die a little.
Every time we say good-bye, I wonder why a little.
Her owners, out and about, have already warbled a bit of the song, but half-Lab, half poodle Sylvia’s version of Cole Porter takes the cake. We chuckle, and then feel the prick of eyes misting over. What do we truly want out of life? Why is it so hard to figure out sometimes? That’s playwright A.R. Gurney’s 1995 Sylvia, like a tap on the funny bone that makes us giggle…and then say “ouch.”
Director Keith J. Warren and a solid cast of four handle this mix of emotions beautifully in Onstage in Bedford’s lively production of Sylvia. Though the play could easily become a talking animal sit-com akin to, say, Alf or (heaven forbid) Mr. Ed — too long ago? — this story of a long-married couple and a newly acquired dog has Gurney’s crisp banter to lift it up — plus the built-in absurdity of the whole idea. Then too, the saga of just-retired Greg, still career-focused Kate, and endlessly needy Sylvia (Kate says reasonably that her years of dog duty are over) is very relatable to lots of us.
I admire how playwright Gurney mixes good comedy with serious ideas — mid-life changes and crises, empty nests, downsizing from big suburban house to small NYC apartment, and a husband/wife pair who feel suddenly out of sync (Kate’s being offered better positions, an overseas fellowship, etc.; Greg’s being pushed out of his work specialty into parts of the corporation he doesn’t like (good enough for the old guy?). It’s impossible to say who needs who more: Greg and Sylvia are both lost.
At the start, Ryan Inslow gives husband Greg an uncertain, anxious air. He knows wife Kate will give him an earful about bringing Sylvia home…but he desperately needs something new, something real in his life. Abby Rosenthal’s Kate strikes us as inflexible at first, but her explanation that she spent decades raising kids and tending dogs…and now is set on a path to a) living as a footloose couple in Manhattan, and b) taking up some exciting new opportunities in her teaching career. Both actors make this a believable long-time partnership, even though they’re not on the same page right now.
Lauren Kirkpatrick’s bouncing, brash Sylvia is hilariously physical and continually full of emotions (usually one at a time): adoration of Greg (“I love you”), outrage that Kate swats her with a magazine for sitting on the couch, sudden love/lust for a dog-in-the-park named Bowser…or maybe that hunky Doberman over there? Sylvia pretends to be a good dog (“Okay—wink—I won’t chew things.”) but is entirely set on having her own way.
On one of their walks, Greg meets a Central Park good ol’ boy named Tom (Bowser’s person), who is full of advice about dogs and marriage. Kirsty Johnson is Tom, plus Kate’s college friend Phyllis, and a New Age-y psychologist named Leslie who seems extremely flexible both in advice and gender (she lets clients decide). All three of Kirkpatrick’s side characters are darned funny, and give the play a nice break from the main story line.
Sylvia is about changing stages of life and needs, about compromises, about recognizing the worth of somebody who’s known you forever. This isn’t an O’Neill play: we have a feeling things will work out—and Sylvia is a survivor who will probably land on her four feet. Just as a side note, I enjoyed the fun Gurney clearly had writing from the inside of a dog’s head—and loved his creative solution to how Sylvia “barks” without breaking character (still speaking in human words). “Hey hey hey hey,” she yaps in rapid-fire English. Too cute!
WHEN: March 27-April 12, 2026
WHERE: 2819 Forest Ridge Drive, Bedford TX
WEB: onstageinbedford.com
