More than a year after it was first scheduled to open, A.R. Gurney’s play “Sylvia,” a comedy about the impact of an adopted stray dog on an empty-nest marriage, will open next Thursday at the Hampton Theatre Company in Quogue.
The set-up is simple: Sylvia, a stray dog -- played by a human -- is brought home from Central Park and unsettles the relationship between Greg and Kate when Kate decides the dog is a rival for the affection of her husband, who is having a mid-life crisis and is about to lose his job.
In a New York Times review of the original 1995 production, which starred Sarah Jessica Parker as Sylvia, Vincent Canby wrote, “The entire production . . . is so full of theatrical intelligence and writerly skill that it consistently pleases, even when, like a dog, it makes a slight mess.” Blythe Danner and Charles Kimbrough played Kate and Greg.
The play has since been produced widely in regional theaters, including at H.T.C. in 1998. A 2015 Broadway revival starred Annaleigh Ashford as Sylvia, Julie White as Kate, and -- coincidentally? -- Matthew Broderick, Ms. Parker’s husband, as Greg.
Gurney, a playwright, novelist, and academic, was best known for his astute and witty plays about upper-class white Anglo-Saxon Protestant life in America, among them “The Cocktail Hour, “The Dining Room,” and, most famously, “Love Letters.”
The cast of H.T.C.’s revival of “Sylvia” features Amanda Griemsmann in the title role, Catherine Maloney as Kate, and George Loizides in three different roles. The company has not revealed the name of the actor playing Greg, giving only the clue that the role will feature “a familiar H.T.C. face.” Diana Marbury, the company’s artistic director, will direct.
In accordance with Covid-19 protocols, seating capacity will be limited for each performance to approximately 60 ticket holders, and tickets will only be sold in advance, through hamptontheatre.org or by calling the box office at 631-653-8955.
“Sylvia” will run through June 13 with performances on Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 and 8, and Sundays at 2:30. Tickets are $30, $25 for senior citizens (except for Saturday evenings); $20 for those under 35, and $10 for students under 21.
