Area premiere of Karen Zacarias' play runs through March 25 at FST
In her play “Native Gardens,” Karen Zacarias takes a smart and fresh approach to exploring racism and ageism in society through a familiar battle between neighbors in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. over property lines.
The young new owners of the fixer-upper on the right side of the gorgeous set by Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay decide to install a new fence but a survey reveals that their property line actually extends two feet into space their neighbors have been using for their well-manicured flower garden.
You can overlook the improbability that no one previously knew about the property boundaries and some of the unexpected stands each side takes as Zacarias crafts an engaging and theatrical comedic drama that raises high stakes for each couple and uses them as metaphors for the bigger political and social issues that divide our nation.
The new couple is Pablo Del Valle, a Chilean-born attorney trying to gain a new foothold in his new firm, and his very pregnant wife, Tania, who is trying to finish a doctoral dissertation and turn the backyard into a garden filled with native plants to attract birds, bees and other wildlife. Their neighbors in the perfectly tended house next door are Frank Butley, a consultant who works from home and his wife, Virginia, one of the first female engineers working for a defense contractor.
At first, everyone is friendly and kind, at least on the surface, as you hear undercurrents of negative views creep into their seemingly charming chatter. In an awkward effort to bond, Virginia notes that she and Pablo were probably “tokens” of different kinds in their offices, but the word has an extra sting after Frank assumes his neighbors are Mexican. That in turn, colors the Del Valle’s impression of their conservative neighbors.
Problems escalate during a frenzied week as the Del Valle’s rush to put in the new fence in time for a hastily planned barbecue to impress the attorneys at Pablo’s firm. The party will take place one day before a local horticultural society judges Frank’s garden in an annual competition. It seems trivial to a degree, but a war breaks out between the neighbors.
But it’s sometimes hard to tell when the battle begins because the performances are often high-pitched too soon and too frequently under the direction of Kate Alexander. As much as I might appreciate or understand their characters, I never quite believed the actors playing them with mannered patterns of speech. They often seem to be delivering performances, like stock characters, rather than playing real people. That doesn’t fit the script or Alexander’s usual effort to get truthful performances from her actors.
I found Alicia Taylor Tomasko as Tania the most grounded, which may suit her “from-the-earth” aura. Yet there’s a lot of life and spirit in what you get from Alex Teicheira as Pablo, Carolyn Popp as Virginia and John Thomas Waite as Frank. We recognize them instantly.
There is no question about the impact of the set by the Curley-Clays, the sister team who dominate the stage by clearly depicting the distinctions between the homes and the couples. For the Butleys, everything looks pristine, except that big, unwanted oak tree branch hanging overhead from the Del Valle’s dirtier and messier backyard. K. April Soroko’s costumes also give a sense of the character’s place and status, and Thom Beaulieu’s lighting gently shifts focus from one side of the stage to the other.
While I found myself laughing a little less than others in Friday’s opening night audience, Zacarias’ story kept me curious as I appreciated how a little satire might be able to calm some of the divide that threatens our community at almost every driveway.