by Mike Hoban
‘Native Gardens’ – Written by Karen Zacarías; Directed by Giovanna Sardelli; Scenic Design by Alexis Distler; Costume Design by Miranda Kau Giurleo; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Original Music & Sound Design by Ursula Kwong-Brown and Daniel Erdberg. Produced by the Merrimack Repertory Theater, 50 East Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA, through October 7.
Political comedy may be the most difficult of all of the genres to get right, even more so in these deeply divided times. Since many of us have lost the ability to even entertain the possibility that other points of view might have some validity, when politically charged issues are presented on stage, all too often good comic writing takes a back seat to caricature or cheap preaching-to-the-choir grandstanding.
That’s why Merrimack Rep’s production of Native Gardens is such a joy. Playwright Karen Zacarías has crafted the rarest of things, a political comedy that is both laugh-out-loud funny and provocative, because it manages to alternately support and take shots at both the progressive and conservative viewpoints, while anchoring the story in the universal framework of neighborly disputes. There is nary a false note in this script as the play addresses a plethora of isms – racism, ageism, sexism, while acknowledging that all of us to some degree hold our own little litany of self-righteous judgements. It also provides some hope that maybe (someday) we can begin to look past some of our differences and at least try to get along.
Pablo (Gabriel Marin) and Tania Del Valle (Vivia Font) are a 30-ish Democratic couple who have just purchased a townhouse in an historic neighborhood in D.C. next to Frank (Joel Colodner) and Victoria (Navida Stein), a couple nearing retirement age who mistake them for Mexicans. Pablo is a lawyer from a wealthy Chilean family who has just landed a spot at a prestigious law firm, while the very pregnant Tania, born and raised in New Mexico, is finishing up her Ph.D. Virginia is an engineer for a Lockheed Martin, while Frank is a consultant for something that he refers to as “the agency.” But his real passion has become tending to his garden, where he hopes to best his rival, the unseen Philip Saxon, for the Potomac Horticultural Society’s Garden of the Year award. Frank and Victoria are also moderate Bob Dole-ish (read pre-Trump) Republicans.
When Pablo tells Tania that – in his zeal to make partner – he has invited his entire office to their new but yet-to-be renovated fixer-upper home, the couple frantically seeks a way to pull it off. They decide to host a backyard BBQ, but that entails replacing a dilapidated chain link fence separating the yards with a nice wooden one, which thrills Frank, as it beautifies the yard and improves his trophy chances. But when Pablo and Tania survey their land and discover that their property line extends into Frank’s prized garden…that’s when the gloves come off, the tongues sharpen – and the comedy and drama get ratcheted up.
There are plenty of gentle barbs early on, such as when Pablo expresses surprise that Victoria is an engineer, and she turns one of the oldest jokes about subtle forms of racism on its head with the clever line, “I bet some of your best friends are old female defense contractors. Right?” They all chuckle, but those digs cut deeper as the stakes (such as they are in a play with gardening at its center) are raised.
Director Giovanna Sardelli has assembled a top-notch creative team (a mix of out-of-towners and local talent) beginning with MRT fixture Colodner, who morphs from a sweetly obsessive older man into raging lunatic while also displaying a surprising flair for physical comedy. Stein exudes the kind of toughness that it would take for a woman to succeed in the male-dominated defense industry, and Marin blends Pablo’s Latin male machismo with bouts of self-doubt convincingly. But it is Font (who is also 7-plus months pregnant in real life) who nearly steals the show, as she explodes from the calming voice of reason into the “passionately rational” Tania, whether discussing the eco benefits of native gardens or defending her husband’s somewhat misguided reasoning. Kudos too for scenic designer Alexis Distler. While the garden itself may not win any horticultural awards, the attention to detail of the brick townhouses is worthy of an Architectural Digest layout.
It’s a testament to the playwright’s skill that the characters are so endearing, warts and all, that you really hope that things actually work out, even as the play becomes more frenetic and a positive outcome seems less and less likely. Maybe because it’s nice to see that the subject of politics doesn’t necessarily have to mean a gnashing of teeth. At least in the theater. For tickets and more information, go to: https://mrt.org/
