{"id":1106,"date":"2010-03-03T15:17:11","date_gmt":"2010-03-03T20:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ting.theredcolobus.com\/?p=1106"},"modified":"2010-03-03T15:17:11","modified_gmt":"2010-03-03T20:17:11","slug":"nyt-sylvia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/?p=1106","title":{"rendered":"NYT: Sylvia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Uncommon Insight, Coming From a Dog<\/h1>\n
By\u00a0ANITA GATES<\/div>\n
\n

You may want to ask yourself whether you can trust a confessed dog fanatic to\u00a0review\u00a0\u201cSylvia,\u201d the\u00a0Long Wharf Theater\u2019s current attraction. So I want to reassure you that I am sometimes not completely entranced by plays, movies and books about my favorite animal. Sometimes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A. R. Gurney\u2019s \u201cSylvia,\u201d which was a huge\u00a0success\u00a0Off Broadway in 1995, is about a poodle-Labrador retriever mix, known these days as a\u00a0Labradoodle. We know this because the human characters discuss it. The actress wears not even a hint of a dog costume or accessory.<\/p>\n

Sylvia (although she seems to have been abandoned, she wears an ID tag with that name), is a frisky female, who latches on to a nice middle-aged New Yorker one day in the park. He takes her home to his wife, who is appalled and does not want to make the arrangement permanent. To express her distaste, she begins referring to the dog as Saliva.<\/p>\n

Saliva \u2014 I mean Sylvia \u2014 was played in New York by\u00a0Sarah Jessica Parker, one of the few actresses who can deliver that much intense, puppylike energy and make it more adorable than annoying. Although I never saw anything more than publicity clips of Ms. Parker\u2019s performance, I was prepared to hate Erica Sullivan, who plays the role at Long Wharf.<\/p>\n

Color me wrong. Ms. Sullivan (a puppy herself \u2014 Yale School of Drama, 2009) is so lovable, so personable and so full of anthropomorphized canine life that audiences cannot resist siding with Greg (John Procaccino), her besotted new owner. Mr. Procaccino is charming and sympathetic, playing a man whose defining life roles are coming apart.<\/p>\n

His wife, Kate (Karen Ziemba), is the closest thing to a villain in the play. But there is every reason to sympathize with her. She and Greg have moved from the suburbs into Manhattan now that their children are grown and out of the house. She has taken up teaching, and it is going well. Kate loves this new calm, orderly existence; the shakiness of Greg\u2019s Wall Street career is upset enough, without adding a frenzied, flawed animal to the mix.<\/p>\n

Ms. Ziemba, a Broadway musical veteran and a\u00a0Tony Award\u00a0nominee, fits right into this nonmusical comedy. But there is one priceless musical moment. As Kate boards a plane, Greg lingers at the airport after seeing her off. While Sylvia waits at home alone, she begins singing \u201cEvery time we say goodbye, I die a little.\u201d Then the humans join in, each in his or her separate loneliness. Ms. Ziemba\u2019s voice, naturally, outshines the others \u2014 but not enough to kill the delicately balanced humor and poignancy of the moment.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s remember who gave Sylvia life: A. R. Gurney, the chronicler of sophisticated upper-middle-class angst, author of plays like \u201cThe Cocktail Party,\u201d \u201cThe Dining Room,\u201d \u201cLove Letters\u201d and \u201cMrs. Farnsworth,\u201d is a man gifted with uncommon insight into human motivations and frailties. So when he turns his gift to the analysis of what a dog might really be thinking and really want, it should not be surprising that the results are so rich. (Gurneyish touch: There is talk about the dog putting Greg and Kate\u2019s marriage at risk.)<\/p>\n

Sylvia does speak, of course. \u201cListen, it\u2019s a tough world out there, lady,\u201d she says when Kate proposes sending her to the pound. Then she explains the awful meaning of the \u201ctime limit\u201d that pounds and shelters impose.<\/p>\n

Not having seen the play before, I had assumed that only the audience would hear and understand Sylvia\u2019s words. But Greg and Kate do understand, whether literally or emotionally, and respond.<\/p>\n

The difference between \u201cSylvia\u201d and other popular dog tales of recent years, like \u201cMy Dog Skip\u201d and \u201cMarley and Me,\u201d is that those focus on what a relationship with a dog means to us. \u201cSylvia\u201d concentrates just as much on what our actions and feelings mean to dogs. And though people with crying tendencies will cry at the end, there is nothing sentimental about it.<\/p>\n

Considerable credit for this goes to Eric Ting\u2019s bouncy but deliberately hard-edged direction. Frank J. Alberino\u2019s set is understated and gracefully clever. Jacob Ming-Trent plays three roles expertly. One is male, one is female, and one is a therapist we\u2019re not sure about (\u201cI let my patients select my gender\u201d).<\/p>\n

So much of Sylvia\u2019s dialogue is a revelation, but the tricks-and-treats scene stands out. Sylvia does a trick. Greg praises her and pops a treat into her mouth.<\/p>\n

Then he gives the command for a second trick. Sylvia replies, \u201cI\u2019m still eating.\u201d<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/demo-img-1.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Uncommon Insight, Coming From a Dog By\u00a0ANITA GATES You may want to ask yourself whether you can trust a confessed dog fanatic to\u00a0review\u00a0\u201cSylvia,\u201d the\u00a0Long Wharf Theater\u2019s current attraction. So I want to reassure you that I am sometimes not completely entranced by plays, movies and books about my favorite animal. Sometimes. A. R. Gurney\u2019s \u201cSylvia,\u201d which was a huge\u00a0success\u00a0Off Broadway in 1995, is about a poodle-Labrador retriever mix, known these days as a\u00a0Labradoodle. We know this because the human characters discuss it. The actress wears not even a hint of a dog costume or accessory. Sylvia (although she seems to have been abandoned, she wears an ID tag with that name), is a frisky female, who latches on to a nice middle-aged New Yorker one day in the park. He takes her home to his wife, who is appalled and does not want to make the arrangement permanent. To express her distaste, she begins referring to the dog as Saliva. Saliva \u2014 I mean Sylvia \u2014 was played in New York by\u00a0Sarah Jessica Parker, one of the few actresses who can deliver that much intense, puppylike energy and make it more adorable than annoying. Although I never saw anything more than publicity clips of Ms. Parker\u2019s performance, I was prepared to hate Erica Sullivan, who plays the role at Long Wharf. Color me wrong. Ms. Sullivan (a puppy herself \u2014 Yale School of Drama, 2009) is so lovable, so personable and so full of anthropomorphized canine life that audiences cannot resist siding with Greg (John Procaccino), her besotted new owner. Mr. Procaccino is charming and sympathetic, playing a man whose defining life roles are coming apart. His wife, Kate (Karen Ziemba), is the closest thing to a villain in the play. But there is every reason to sympathize with her. She and Greg have moved from the suburbs into Manhattan now that their children are grown and out of the house. She has taken up teaching, and it is going well. Kate loves this new calm, orderly existence; the shakiness of Greg\u2019s Wall Street career is upset enough, without adding a frenzied, flawed animal to the mix. Ms. Ziemba, a Broadway musical veteran and a\u00a0Tony Award\u00a0nominee, fits right into this nonmusical comedy. But there is one priceless musical moment. As Kate boards a plane, Greg lingers at the airport after seeing her off. While Sylvia waits at home alone, she begins singing \u201cEvery time we say goodbye, I die a little.\u201d Then the humans join in, each in his or her separate loneliness. Ms. Ziemba\u2019s voice, naturally, outshines the others \u2014 but not enough to kill the delicately balanced humor and poignancy of the moment. Let\u2019s remember who gave Sylvia life: A. R. Gurney, the chronicler of sophisticated upper-middle-class angst, author of plays like \u201cThe Cocktail Party,\u201d \u201cThe Dining Room,\u201d \u201cLove Letters\u201d and \u201cMrs. Farnsworth,\u201d is a man gifted with uncommon insight into human motivations and frailties. So when he turns his gift to the analysis of what a dog might really be thinking and really want, it should not be surprising that the results are so rich. (Gurneyish touch: There is talk about the dog putting Greg and Kate\u2019s marriage at risk.) Sylvia does speak, of course. \u201cListen, it\u2019s a tough world out there, lady,\u201d she says when Kate proposes sending her to the pound. Then she explains the awful meaning of the \u201ctime limit\u201d that pounds and shelters impose. Not having seen the play before, I had assumed that only the audience would hear and understand Sylvia\u2019s words. But Greg and Kate do understand, whether literally or emotionally, and respond. The difference between \u201cSylvia\u201d and other popular dog tales of recent years, like \u201cMy Dog Skip\u201d and \u201cMarley and Me,\u201d is that those focus on what a relationship with a dog means to us. \u201cSylvia\u201d concentrates just as much on what our actions and feelings mean to dogs. And though people with crying tendencies will cry at the end, there is nothing sentimental about it. Considerable credit for this goes to Eric Ting\u2019s bouncy but deliberately hard-edged direction. Frank J. Alberino\u2019s set is understated and gracefully clever. Jacob Ming-Trent plays three roles expertly. One is male, one is female, and one is a therapist we\u2019re not sure about (\u201cI let my patients select my gender\u201d). So much of Sylvia\u2019s dialogue is a revelation, but the tricks-and-treats scene stands out. Sylvia does a trick. Greg praises her and pops a treat into her mouth. Then he gives the command for a second trick. Sylvia replies, \u201cI\u2019m still eating.\u201d http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/demo-img-1.jpg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tingericting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}