Reviews are in for "Sylvia"!

Okay, just one, but not bad for my first full Houston outing as a director!

Sylvia, A Masked Ball
Despite some leg humping, A. R. Gurney's fable gets best in show
By D.L. Groover
Published: October 25, 2007

That old showbiz axiom — work with dogs, risk being upstaged — receives a refreshing swat across the snout in A.R. Gurney's romantic fable Sylvia, now running at Town Center Theatre. In this ultra-smart marital comedy, the title character is a dog, played to canine perfection by the spirited Alison Luff.

In Gurney's warm and softly funny play, Sylvia romps with puppy abandon, yapping when annoyed, barking obscenities at nearby felines, humping a leg or two and indiscriminately peeing on the carpet. She is pure love, and her new master, unemployed Greg (John Chandler), who found her wandering lost in the park, is instantly smitten, falling hard under her doggie charm. But Greg's power wife Kate (Bonnie Hewett) is not amused. She's savvy enough to notice who's getting more loving between her and the dog. "Saliva," Kate calls the intruder with disparagement, has got to go. They circle each other warily, both on all fours by the end of Act I, each determined to be top dog.

Gurney's sly treatment of marriage, commitment and New York life gently mocks the universal, age-old battle of the sexes. The playwright's arsenal of tricks is as clever and adorable as Lassie's. Tipping the scales in this domestic triad are three subsidiary characters played by the same actor (Aaron Stryk on opening weekend; Ben Warner for the remaining performances). Buddy Tom is Greg's male chauvinist enabler who swears by self-help guru-type books like Your Pooch and Your Partner. Phyllis is Kate's Upper East Side yenta friend, who thinks a goldfish makes the safest companion for a distracted husband. Then there's Leslie of the indeterminate gender, the couple's marriage counselor who's sorely in need of her own therapist. Each has his or her own comic take on what it really means to a healthy relationship when one of the partners brings a different kind of love back home.

Under director [Drewster's] smooth pacing, Gurney's cozy, hip play gleams with professional polish. The cast is an utter delight. Luff, of course, makes a sexy bitch; lovesick Chandler is as forlorn as a beagle; Hewett fights for her dignity with bulldog tenacity; and Stryk's versatility is truly best in show. A resounding pat on the head to Town Center — good dog!

http://entertainment.houstonpress.com/2007-10-25/culture/top-dog/