The last play of CVRep's 2021/2022 season, Native Gardens by playwright Karen Zacarias begins with all of the best intentions, but with change comes a perceived as well as a real cost. It is a slow grower, but the penultimate moment is well worth the burn.
Deftly directed by Michael Matthews, the 2016 play tackles boundaries, race, class, the American dream, progressives, and republicans in a show built of good people with good intentions that eventually dissolves into the War of the Roses. Quite literally.
Here's the plot: Virginia (Janellen Steininger) and Frank Butley (Dennis Gersten) have lived in their Washington D.C. home for a lifetime. She's an engineer, and he's a retired government worker whose hobby is gardening, and his goal is to win the best neighborhood garden award given out yearly.
Recently, Tania (Marta Portillo) and Pablo Del Valle (Andrew Joseph Perez) purchased and moved into the house next door. Tania is pregnant and also working on her PHD. She is from modest means, but her husband, Pablo, a rising attorney at his firm, comes from Chilean money - although they did disown him for marrying Tania.
Tania wants to meet the neighbors, and drags Pablo to the Butley's home to introduce themselves. They enjoy a beverage in the backyard while they learn about each other and, of course, Frank's desire to win an award for his garden.
There are a few aspects of Frank's garden that are problematic. There is a nasty chain-link fence between the two properties which Frank has tried to hide by growing ivy over it. The second problem is one that Tania points out - as pretty as his garden is, his plants are not native to the region, nor do they promote a symbiotic relationship with nature, and that's the kind of garden she's always wanted to create.
On the work front, Pablo thinks he's about to make partner, and on top of just moving into a new home, being pregnant and studying for her degree, Pablo tells Tania he's invited the firm over that weekend for a party. Tania reluctantly agrees, but only if she can fix up their yard to be native and take down the nasty fence before the weekend. Then she'll throw a barbecue in the garden for him.
The removal of the fence, and the installation of a new one requires another visit to the Butleys who are thrilled it is going away. The old owner of the Del Valle's house put it up, and they've never liked it.
To prepare for the removal, and where to erect the new fence, the Del Valle's notice that there seems to be an issue with the property line. They call a surveyor who confirms that some of Frank's garden is on their property.
As you might guess, this causes some, sorry, a lot, of tension.
Before we get to the cast, let's talk about the production itself, starting with lights and sound designed by Moira Wilkie Whitaker and Cricket Myers, respectively. As always, Wilkie Whitaker's lighting design does the job well, the stage is well lit, and transitions ran smoothly.
Myers is a new name for me, and likely because she's been popping around the country - from Broadway and all the stops in between to California - winning awards. The design was a fun surprise. Strains of Pink Martini often filled the transitions until tensions begin to reach a boiling point then a couple of very cleverly placed pop songs with a very specific message broadcasting the change in both couples. The music for the ensemble work was a lot of fun too, so welcome to the valley, Cricket Myers.
Veteran hair and makeup artist Lynda Shaeps' design was appreciated for its simplicity, and Aalso Lee's costume design (especially Virginia's) were spot on. Also, kudos to stage manager Gabrielle Bruno and prop manager, Louise Ross.
There are a lot of literal moving parts to this play, and Jimmy Cuomo's set, with its 2-story flats for both homes, as well as their respective backyards set the scene perfectly. While the Butley's yard is well-manicured, the Del Valle's backyard needs a lot of Tania's love - and that chain-link fence is so god-awful it's the chef's kiss.
A play, of course, is not a play without the actors, and the entire cast jumps into their roles with gusto, culminating in one of the funniest scenes I have ever seen played out on stage. Gersten's obsessed and aging Frank plays well off of Steininger's spunky Virginia. If you live in white America, you've met them. They're playful and while they like to think they're open-minded, they are, like many aging people, resistant to change.
Portillo's portrayal of Tania as a strong, energetic, very pregnant young woman who struggles between kindness and indignation hits all the right notes, while Perez keeps Pablo's struggle for respect at his firm, and in this country at the forefront. Nice turns by all.
That brings us to the ensemble, Arianna Carrilo, Allan Looney-Escobar, Raven Cheikhi-Murphy, and Alex Hernandez who play the landscaping crew. This, and the penultimate scene are where director Matthews shines. In conjunction with Myers' sound design, and Wilkie-Whitaker's light design, the four have a few magical moments as they dance through their landscaping roles, keeping us entertained while Cuomo's set slowly transforms.
As the play unfolds, I became aware of each character's personal struggle in life and within the context of the action in this well-written play. The 90 minute run time, without an intermission, was a great choice to bring the audience to a high boil before bringing us to our knees with laughter.
Kudos to Celona for finally getting this production in front of eyes here in the Coachella Valley.
You won't want to miss it.
Runs through April 24
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