Sylvia

(City Center Stage I, New York; 299 seats; $35 top)

A Manhattan Theater Club presentation of a play in two acts by A.R. Gurney. Directed by John Tillinger.

Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker (Sylvia), Charles Kimbrough (Greg), Blythe Danner (Kate), Derek Smith (Tom/Phyllis/Leslie).

Who knows what inspired A.R. Gurney to write a play about a talking dog who sees a mild-mannered man through his midlife crisis? Whatever it was, the play is an enchanting bit of whimsy, put across in a production of gossamer elegance by a cast that gives itself over to the fable with utterly endearing conviction.

Sarah Jessica Parker, in the canine title role, is total happiness, because she so perfectly captures the play's funny/sad essence. She is the story's prime mover, and Parker's poochy pulchritude is something to treasure.

Charles Kimbrough plays Greg, a currency trader who has lost a connection to anything real in the world. His children are off to college, and his wife Kate (Blythe Danner) is blossoming in a new career teaching Shakespeare at a Harlem junior high.

Then he stumbles upon Sylvia in the park, and it's love at first sight. Sylvia becomes the route through which he divorces everything meaningless in his life; it's significant that that does not include Kate. Sylvia opens up Greg's world; she takes over his empty life in ways even Kate has been unable to achieve.

Gurney may be incapable of writing a play that takes a character to the deepest depths; "Sylvia" is, after all, a comedy and a slight one at that. Underneath it all is compassion for those who want a greater legacy than a happy family, only to find there is none.

Director John Tillinger fits this material perfectly, John Lee Beatty's Manhattan settings are suggestively affectionate and Ken Billington's lighting perfectly captures what can only be called West Side light.

Sets, John Lee Beatty; costumes, Jane Greenwood; lighting, Ken Billington; sound, Aural Fixation; production stage manager, Roy Harris; casting, Nancy Piccione; production manager, Michael R. Moody; press, Helene Davis; associate artistic director, Michael Bush; general manager, Victoria Bailey. Artistic director, Lynne Meadow; managing director, Barry Grove. Opened, reviewed May 23, 1995. Running time: 2 hours.

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