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29 W ednesday , Septem ber 15, 2010 O A KVILLE BEA V ER w w w .o akvillebeaver .co m Artscene By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF I f theres ever been an odd cou-ple, then this definitely fallsinto the category of an odd love-triangle. The Burl-Oak Theatre Group is presenting an American comedy about the couple of Greg and Kate. Between the middle-aged married couple comes Sylvia. However, Sylvia is a dog. Sylvia is kind of, I hate to say this, but almost a love-triangle, said the director of the show, Rachel Blackburn. Except the dog just wants to be accepted by the couple. Theres so much love between the three of them. Ultimately, its a positive story with a message of love bringing people together. The local community theatre group will be performing Sylvia at the Meeting House Theatre in north Oakville Sept. 16-18. The play was written by A. R. Gurney and was first produced in 1995. It is about the life of the cou- ple after the husband, Greg, finds the dog, played by a human, in the park and takes it home. His wife, Kate, on the other hand, reacts negatively to the dog and wants it gone. I think the beauty of the play is that it sort of brings these human concerns and silly concerns of life to the dog world and vice versa, Blackburn said. The dogs world is about I just want to love and be loved and she kind of brings that to the human couple. Actress Stephanie Wheeler, who plays Sylvia, has prepared herself to play the part of a dog. She spent a lot of time with the director on her movement. In the show she wears distinguishing dog attire such as a collar. One of the actors actually brought in his dog a couple of times to rehearsal his name is Scooby so shes observed Scoobys movement, Blackburn said. Weve talked a lot about the things that are important to a dog and doggy instincts as opposed to human instincts. Blackburn said there were many women who auditioned for the role of Sylvia, something that is surprising considering one would have to play a different species of character. Playing one of the other two lead women is Oakvilles Michelle LaHaise (Kate). The 36-year-old Oakville native said shes in a place in life where she can almost relate to her character. LaHaise has a triple-major degree in anthropolo- gy, sociology and psychology and her character is well educated as well. A lot of the character and how she feels, I think I can draw on because I feel like Im approaching that myself, LaHaise said. You do have this laundry list when you reach middle age. Did I do that or that? Maybe some of the crisis comes when you realize you havent checked off many of the items you wanted to. Im trying to draw from that and also in a posi- tive way. She added the contention in the couple stems from Kates ambition to continue to achieve new goals, where as husband Greg is content with where he is in his life. Im trying to sympathize with Kate so that shes someone that the audience can sympathize with because shes a bit jealous. But shes the one whos trying to keep everything in line, she said. I think at first you see her as a villain. How could you not want this cute little dog in the house? I think the sympathy comes from, and I hope the audience sees that, it really isnt a good time for them to have a dog. LaHaise has been a member of the theatre group since 2004, in that time doing both performing and directing, as well as perform- ing with other groups. For this play, she said the cast has become almost like a family. The cast is very close, she said. I think just because of the material. Its very emotional mate- rial. Its comedy, but it draws on a lot of deep-seated emotion and because of that weve all become close. Weve kind of become a big family, which is really what weve wanted to achieve. Blackburn guarantees that peo- ple will laugh at the show. People are going to walk out with a greater appreciation for all species: humans, animals, every- thing that life has to offer but theyre going to laugh all the way Love triangle promises to be a laugh ENTER SYLVIA: Stephanie Wheeler (left), who plays the role of a dog named Sylvia, rehearses with Paul Damario and Oakvilles Michelle LaHaise of the Burl-Oak Theatre Group in preparation for their comedy performance of Sylvia, written by A.R. Gurney that they will be presenting September 16-18 at The Meeting House Theatre in Oakville. MICHELLE SIU / OAKVILLE BEAVER See Dog page 31 Sign up now for guitar, bass, drums, and piano OAKVILLES MUSIC STORE