Barking toward Broadway

Dog lovers of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your leashes.

Sylvia kicks off the Invisible Theatre's "Season of Love" which celebrates the theater's 28th anniversary.

Most dogs have names like "Spot" or "Rover" etc., but the main character in this hilarious comedy is an unlikely pooch called Sylvia. Sylvia is saved from an uncertain future at the pound by Greg, a middle-aged man going through his mid-life crisis. Greg soon becomes so obsessed with taking care of Sylvia that wife Kate feels her position as a wife is threatened. Kate tries to get rid of Sylvia, to no avail. Through the course of the play, the couple come to terms with their relationship, with each other and with Sylvia.

Sylvia is wonderfully portrayed by Suzi List, who makes her character, a talking dog, extremely believable. She finds the perfect blend between being a dog - on all fours, at times in heat - and being human. List is a joy to watch.

Greg is well portrayed by the head of the acting and directing area at the UA theater department, Harold Dixon. whose real-life wife Maedell Dixon does a good job bringing Kate to life, showing her distress with Sylvia and finally coming to an understanding with the pooch.

Dixon said he enjoyed performing with his wife again.

"It's great when you know someone, you feel more at ease to try new stuff in a scene," he said.

"(Greg and Kate are a couple who have) not necessarily fallen out of love but (Greg) is having trouble getting older and finding his way in older life," Dixon said. Kate has found her place teaching Shakespeare to inner-city kids but Greg is grasping for something because everything around him is changing in his middle-age, he said.

"Sylvia is the symptom and the catalyst for his change," Dixon said.

Dixon has been the head of the acting and directing area for the past 18 years and he will be directing the UA Arizona Repertory Theatre's Shakespearean production, Measure for Measure, in March.

The Invisible Theatre started in 1971 as an arena for local playwrights but has since evolved to a full theater company performing an eclectic selection of plays. The theater company takes its name from the invisible energy that flows between a performer and an audience.

Due to popular demand, Sylvia has been held over until Oct. 17, with performances every Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The Invisible Theatre is located at 1400 N. First Ave. Call 882-9721 for more information.