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Overview
Synopsis
In the suburbs of Washington D.C., a high-powered lawyer named Pablo and his very pregnant, doctoral candidate wife named Tania, have just purchased their dream home. It’s a bit of a fixer-upper, but luckily Tania is a brilliant gardener and plans to transform their outdoor space into a beautiful native garden. Their new next-door neighbor, Frank, is a gardener himself and spends most of his time nurturing his non-native garden to win the annual gardening competition in the neighborhood. Frank and his wife Virginia have lived here for a long time and welcome Pablo and Tania with open arms. However, when Pablo invites his whole law firm over for a BBQ, Tania and Pablo set to work on building a fence and discover that their property line is 2 feet into Frank’s beloved garden. This creates friction between the neighbors and an all-out border dispute erupts. The two couples show their true colors and it is unclear who will win the war. Can such different people from totally different backgrounds find a way to compromise? How can you love your neighbor when you’re sure they’re invading your space?
Show Information
- Book
- Karen Zacarias
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
- Number of Acts
- 1
- First Produced
- 2016
- Genres
- Comedy
- Time & Place
- Washington D.C., The back of two houses and their two gardens.
- Cast Size
- small
- Licensor
- Samuel French
- Ideal For
- College/University, Community Theatre, Diverse Cast, Regional Theatre, Small Cast, Includes Adult, Mature Adult, Young Adult Characters
Context
Native Gardens was one of the Top 10 Most Produced plays in the 2018-2019 season and the playwright, Karen Zacarias, was one of the Top 20 most produced playwrights of the 2018-2019 season. Native Gardens was commissionon from the Cincinnati Playhouse and dropped into the Regional Theatre scene at the perfect time in U.S. history. The play is about a border dispute and asks whether we can live near and with people who are different from us, which is a question that many citizens of the
to read the context for Native Gardens and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
Prologue
We meet Pablo and Tania in their new home (a fixer-upper) and their new neighbors, Frank and Virginia, in the home they have lived in for years. They speak to the audience and describe how Virginia and Frank welcomed Pablo and Tania to the neighborhood with wine and chocolate, and Tania reveals her excitement about their backyard with a beautiful big tree,
First Vignette-Monday Afternoon
Tania is 8 months pregnant and is outside pulling out weeds. She is in her element, happy
to read the plot for Native Gardens and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
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Lead |
Female |
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Lead |
Male |
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Lead |
Female |
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Lead |
Male |
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Ensemble |
Either Gender |
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Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
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Videos
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Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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