Becky Harper plays a real bitch in HART’s production of “Sylvia.”

No, no, for heaven’s sakes — not the pejorative word, which is applied, according to my OED, opprobriously to a woman, usually to one with either a lewd or acrimonious temperament. Harper does a wonderful job as the other sort of bitch, a female dog, in this case a mutt named Sylvia, who enters the household of Greg and Kate, and then turns their lives upside down. It takes only a moment at the beginning of the play for the unprepared members of the audience to realize that Harper is playing a dog — she dresses in the opening scene in a sweatshirt and jeans — but then the laughs come thick as fleas and fast as greyhounds.

Harper does an extraordinary job creating the role of Sylvia. Anyone who has ever owned a dog — or more properly put, anyone ever owned by a dog — will find Harper’s Sylvia delightful. Harper barks (Hey, Hey, Hey!), scratches, sniffs, and acts, in other words, like a dog, but it is her dialogue as a dog that brings the biggest laughs. One of the most humorous scenes in the play occurs when Sylvia spots a cat beneath a car on a New York Street. Harper’s monologue as she strains at the leash to attack the cat is precisely what we might imagine a dog shouting at a cat. Harper plays this scene and others with great zest.

Steve Crider’s Greg is also artfully done. Crider has the ability to project a man wounded and bored by life who is brought out of his stupor by a dog. Crider’s face and voice reflect exactly the sort of innocence that we might expect from Greg as he falls haplessly in love with Sylvia. He gives us an affectionate caricature of the ultimate pet lover, a man involved in a love triangle in which there is not another woman, but a dog.

Teresa Breakey gives an outstanding performance as Kate, Greg’s wife. She is a New York City schoolteacher who is trying to bring Shakespeare to impoverished middle schools — she frequently quotes Shakespeare in the play — and wants absolutely nothing to do with Sylvia. Breakey’s posture, hair style, and voice all work together to create a no-nonsense woman who has raised her children and who now wants the freedom to work. Even the glaring physical contrast between Breakey with her styled hair and impeccable outfits and Harper’s younger and more casual appearance add to the impression of a love triangle, of a man engaged with his wife and a mistress.

Jeff Bachar plays both male and female roles in “Sylvia” — a dog lover, Tom, who owns Bowser and befriends Greg; Phyllis, a friend of Kate’s from her Vassar days; and Leslie, a psychologist faced with gender issues who counsels Kate and Greg. Bachar won great laughs from the audience for his female impersonations, but his portrait of Tom best reveals his fine acting abilities. Bachar’s portrait of Tom as a loveable, slow-witted buffoon — he is always recommending canine psychology books to Greg — added variety and yet another brand of humor to this comedy club of a play.

Timing is all in comedy, and Julie Kinter as director surely deserves congratulations for helping perfect the timing in “Sylvia.” Tom Dewees as stage manager and Ley Bellows as his assistant also shine in this successful play. Steven Lloyd, Mark Mounce, Jim Thomson, and Tom Dewees all deserve credit for the lovely pastel-looking set and the stage lighting. The lighting in particular is crucial, acting at times like a curtain drawn across the play’s many scenes.

The Gregs of this world will love “Sylvia” because of its wonderful depiction of a dog. The Kates of this world, that is, those who find dogs messy and troublesome, will love “Sylvia” because of its parody of Greg as the ultimate dog lover, that person who dotes on Fido while ignoring his wife and children. Whichever side you pick, you are in for an evening of wonderful laughter when you meet Sylvia.

One caveat: Sylvia contains strong language and adult dialogue.

Following the opening night production, members of the Haywood Animal Welfare Association and the Western Carolina Dog Fanciers Association provided refreshments after the play. Numerous dogs, including a Great Dane you could have saddled, were in attendance for this part of the evening. The Cat Poop Cookies were a particular hit among the party-goers (I won’t go into detail here except to say that the cookies looked quite realistic, but tasted delicious).

— Jeff Minick