Lots of Puppy Love to Spare in ‘Sylvia’

A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia,” at the Theatre District in Costa Mesa, is an odd play for this chronicler of the WASP culture of the Atlantic seaboard. It is an out-and-out comedy that shines with decided whimsy and, in spite of a few serious moments, is total fantasy.

The married couple here are indeed WASPish. Greg is bored with his high-salaried job and is goofing off. His wife, having raised a family and seen them all into college, has plunged into a new career. Then, one decidedly eventful day, Greg finds a stray dog in Central Park and brings her home.

Her name, her collar says, is Sylvia. That’s all. No phone number, no address. Sylvia obviously needs a home.

She not only finds a home with Greg but completely takes over it, along with his life, his affection and his concentration. The situation almost destroys his marriage. Wife Kate feels like a fifth wheel in this new domestic relationship, and nothing she does seems to please either Greg or Sylvia.

Gurney is obviously placing Greg in a special light, a man so blinded to reality that in his mind he can’t compute the problems Sylvia has brought.

Director Mario Lescot’s special touch is his ability always to find in a light play the darker tones that help bring a new sensitivity to the work. He recently did it with “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress,” and he does it again here.

This “Sylvia” is not all shiny surfaces as in some productions. There is a slightly darker texture here, and it works very well.

Sylvia is not played by a real canine. It’s a marvelous role for an actress able to submerge herself in a puppy dog’s personality, and Shannon Hunt is right at home as Sylvia--coy and aggressive, thankful and demanding, and very much aware of her power over Greg and her dislike of Kate.

Hunt’s loving glances at Greg and loathing for Kate are shaded well, and her sense of comedy is winning.

Vince Campbell manages to make Greg totally likable, while at the same time letting us see Greg’s little-boy-lost quality as he gradually becomes enraptured by Sylvia’s charms. In the difficult role of Kate, Christi Sweeney overrides Kate’s harsh moments with an underlying sense of humor about the whole situation that keeps the tone of the action from being too somber.

Bill Forant plays the show’s other three characters with some restraint, fortunately, to match Lescot’s tone. He’s brash and aggressive as Tom, another dog owner in the park, whose macho Bowser woos and finally connects with Sylvia.

As Phyllis, a friend of Kate’s, Forant’s deadpan delivery is funny. And he nicely underplays what could be obnoxious as the marriage counselor Leslie, whom Greg says could be a woman masquerading as a man or a man masquerading as a woman.

*

“Sylvia,” Theatre District, 2930 Bristol St., Ste. C-106, Costa Mesa. Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Saturday. $15-$20. (714) 435-4043. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Shannon Hunt: Sylvia

Christi Sweeney: Kate

Vince Campbell: Greg

Bill Forant: Tom/Phyllis/Leslie

A Theatre District production of A.R. Gurney’s comedy. Directed by Mario Lescot. Scenic design: Two Blue Chairs Inc. Lighting design: Extended Visions. Sound design: Ron Castro. Costume design: Joan Lescot. Stage manager: Sharon Evans.