Jordan Wright
September 20, 2017
Special to The Alexandria Times
(L to R) Dan Domingues as Pablo Del Valle, Jacqueline Correa as Tania Del Valle, Sally Wingert as Virginia Butley and Steve Hendrickson as Frank Butley. Photo by Dan Norman for Guthrie Theater.
Playwright Karen Zacarías’s Native Gardens directed by Blake Robison is hugely hilarious. I had to stop myself from typing “bigly”. You know how things are these days. Everything is viewed through a partisan political filter, no matter which side on the aisle you may seat yourself. And that’s where we find ourselves in this flat-out entertaining dark comedy that pits two widely divergent couples against each other.
The very prescient Zacarías, founder of DC’s Young Playwrights’ Theater and first ever Playwright-in-Residence at Arena Theatre, crafts this social construct of two couples of different ethnic backgrounds whose hearts are in the right place but whose politics and cultural views are worlds apart.
(L to R) Jacqueline Correa as Tania Del Valle and Dan Domingues as Pablo Del Valle. Photo by Dan Norman for Guthrie Theater
Set in Georgetown, an aristocratic, young lawyer, Pablo Del Valle (Dan Domingues) and his pregnant wife Tania (Jacqueline Correa), buy a brownstone next door to an older couple. Pablo is trying to make partner while Tania is studying for her PhD. They are young, Hispanic, open-minded intellectuals, unafraid to speak their minds.
Unfortunately, their formerly abandoned backyard borders the Butleys. Frank Butley (Steve Hendrickson), a retiree devoted to his well-manicured garden, and his wife, Virginia (Sally Wingert), a former executive who clawed her way to the top in a male-dominated industry. Virginia is savvy, sophisticated and sarcastic. Frank is henpecked and self-entitled. Notwithstanding the couples’ differences, they are eager to get along. “Old neighborhood, new neighbors,” Frank says cheerfully.
(L to R) Sally Wingert as Virginia Butley and Steve Hendrickson as Frank Butley. Photo by Dan Norman for Guthrie Theater.
In the beginning all goes well, as the couples sip wine and swap stories about themselves and their gardening philosophies. Tania is eco-conscious and leans towards insect-attracting native plants, while Frank tends his exotic annuals with pesticides and fertilizers. You can smell trouble brewing.
Within days of their moving in, Pablo shocks Tania with the news that he has committed to a party for his entire law firm. They decide it must be outdoors since the house is in dire need of restoration. They hire a team of workmen to beautify their weed-infested garden, remove a ratty chain link fence dividing the properties, and replace it with a spiffy new wooden one.
(L to R) Dan Domingues as Pablo Del Valle and Steve Hendrickson as Frank Butley. Photo by Dan Norman for Guthrie Theater
At first the Butley’s are overjoyed to have a lovely new backdrop for Frank’s formal garden, mere days before the Potomac Horticultural Society is to give out their “Best Garden” awards. But the couples soon hit a snafu when legal eagle Pablo, who has had his property’s boundaries surveyed by the city, tells Frank his beloved roses and hydrangeas are encroaching on their property.
Racist insults fly from both sides of the fence as the couples reveal their prejudices. “They must be Democrats,” Virginia claims while Tania flings Spanish curses and shows her solidarity with the Hispanic workmen. Meanwhile the Butleys bicker amongst themselves, plotting to invoke squatters’ rights. It becomes all-out war with a rapid-fire pace when Pablo accuses Frank’s plants of being “Colonialists”.
Dan Domingues as Pablo Del Valle, Steve Hendrickson as Frank Butley and Sally Wingert as Virginia Butley. Photo by Dan Norman for Guthrie Theater.
The surprising set by Joseph Tilford of an enormous tree flanked by the backyards of the two brownstones – one shabby, one straight out of House and Garden – is a standout. You’ve probably passed homes in Georgetown just like this, though you won’t find any fixer-uppers left.
Highly recommended for multiple viewings. I couldn’t get enough of it.
Through October 22nd at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SE, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202 488-3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.