Published: July 22, 2008 11:45 pm            

It’s almost showtime

Latest Warehouse comedy ‘Sylvia’ opens two week run Thursday

Give a dog a bone, and she will follow you for life, but give a dog a voice, and she will give you a comedy like no other.

The Warehouse Living Arts Center will present A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia,” a comedy about the ups and downs of a married couple who adopts a stray dog into their Manhattan apartment. The play — guest directed by Cran Dodds — opens a two week run at 7:30 p.m. Thursday on the WLAC stage.

The play is for anyone who has ever owned a dog, loved a dog, or even for those who have once or twice wanted to strangle a dog. It centers on the crumbling married life of Greg (played by WLAC veteran Frank Means) — a middle aged New Yorker facing a mid-life crisis and seeking something real in life — who meets a dog named Sylvia (played by Mildred graduate and UIL award-winning actress Alisan Heath) one day while skipping works and finds new meaning in his life through her companionship.

Unfortunately, Greg’s wife Kate (portrayed by local artist and teacher Aimee Kaspryzk) is done with taking care of kids and creatures alike and ready to pursue her dreams of spreading Shakespeare’s words to the students of Harlem and deepening her relationship with her husband.

Through a series of wildly escalating scenes of hilarity, Sylvia manages to tear a hole in Greg and Kate’s relationship, and the two partners find solace in three wildly entertaining characters (all portrayed by Daily Sun intern and UIL award-winning journalist and actor Chase Springer): Tom, a man who offers a bit of his knowledge on dog ownership and loving to Greg, a woman and college companion of Kate named Phyllis, and the tightly-wound androgynous therapist Leslie.

“Sylvia” — rated PG — will be on the Warehouse stage for eight performances running July 24 through 27, 29, 31 and Aug. 1 and 2 with evening performances starting at 7:30 p.m. and the Sunday matinee on July 27 starting at 2 p.m. Tickets for the Warehouse’s third production of the 2008 season are still on sale. Prices are $13 for adults and $11 for students and seniors 65 and older. For reservations or more information on the performance, call the WLAC box office at (903)872-5421.

        

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