NORTHBRIDGE — Pilgrim Soul Productions, in collaboration with Alternatives, announces its 2009 fall season opener: A. R. Gurney’s romantic comedy “Sylvia.”

The play opens a two-weekend run on Friday, Sept. 11, at the Singh Performance Center, located in the historic Whitin Mill, 60 Douglas Road, in Whitinsville. Evening performances are at 8 p.m. on Sept. 11, 12, 18, and 19, with a final matinee performance at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20.

Tickets are $15, or $12 per ticket for groups of 25 or more. To reserve tickets, call (508) 752-0224, or send e-mail to tom.saupe@alternativesnet.org or mattcarr@charter.net . Tickets are also available at the door.

“Sylvia,” a modern romantic comedy about a marriage and a dog, tells the story of Greg and Kate, who have moved to Manhattan after 22 years of child raising in the suburbs. Greg’s career as a financial trader is winding down, while Kate’s career, as a public school English teacher, is beginning to offer her more opportunities. Greg brings home a dog he found in the park—or that has found him—bearing only the name “Sylvia” on her nametag. A street-smart mixture of lab and poodle, Sylvia becomes a major bone of contention between husband and wife. The marriage is put in serious jeopardy until, after a series of hilarious and touching complications, Greg and Kate learn to compromise, and Sylvia becomes a valued part of their lives.

The play, which The New York Daily News critic referred to as “one of the most involving, beautiful, funny, touching and profound plays I have ever seen,” originally starred Sarah Jessica Parker as the loveable mutt, Sylvia. Pilgrim Soul’s upcoming production features local performers Ellen Elsasser, Todd Darling, Betty Kristan, and Erik Johnsen, and is directed by the company’s founder and artistic director, Matthew J. Carr.

Last March at the Singh Pilgrim Soul Productions staged D. L. Coburn’s Pulitzer Prize winning comedy “The Gin Game” to critical acclaim and standing ovations. In May at the Worcester Hibernian Cultural Centre the company presented Marie Jones’s phenomenally successful “Stones in His Pockets.”