Lyn and I don’t get to Seattle often but, we made our annual pilgrimage yesterday to see a play at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. The play is titled, “Sylvia”. It’s a comedy about 2 middle-aged “empty nesters” that get a dog. The wife is pursuing a post child-rearing career and has no desire to complicate her new life with a dog. The husband is struggling with “empty nester’s syndrome” and brings home a stray that he finds at a local park.
The ensuing chaos is hilarious, with barbs thrown towards the weaknesses of both genders. While the play does not delve too deeply into the essence of the couple’s relationship, it does probe the nature of the relationship between people and dogs and does so in a way that kept us laughing throughout the 2 hour performance.
This play ran at the Rep about 15 years ago and it was quite a hit at the time. It’s one of the plays that the theatre has chosen to revisit as part of the celebration of its fifty year anniversary.
I certainly don’t claim any expertise in the area of drama, but to me the acting seemed very convincing. I was especially impressed by the actress who played Sylvia. Any skepticism I harbored about the ability of a human to portray the antics of a dog was quickly erased in the first act. Linda K. Morris brings tail wagging life to the canine main character and leaves us wishing that our dogs could have her voice and speak to us in the same way that Sylvia does to her new guardians.
We can heartily recommend this play to all our customers as a great way to relax and have a few good belly-laughs amid all the holiday hustle and bustle. You’ll need to hurry though. The play closes December 11 and there are a limited number of seats available for the remaining shows.