Tickets for Native Gardens at Pasadena Playhouse
By Cris Franco
Native Gardens, is a new hit comedy about middle-class Latinx and Anglo neighbors in a “border dispute” over a front-yard fence. Horticulture clash and mudslinging ensue – literally. It’s just the latest groundbreaking creation by its Mexican-born author, the prolific Karen Zacarias. I spoke with Ms. Zacarias as she prepared for the much anticipated, star-studded, Los Angeles production of Native Gardens opening 9 September 2018 at the Pasadena Playhouse: pasadenaplayhouse.org
CRIS FRANCO: Audiences and critics nationwide are lauding Native Garden. How did you start writing plays?
KAREN ZACARIAS: My family and I resided in Mexico City until I was ten when my dad was awarded a scholarship to Harvard to pursue his master’s in epidemiology. Moving from la capital to Boston was a culture shock. I’d never eaten a bagel or seen snow or a squirrel. At our new school, my sister and I wanted to greet everyone with a kiss, so everybody thought we were weirdos. I felt like a total outsider – but I thought, it’s only for nine months. But it was the 80’s and gay men and Haitians suddenly began dying from a mysterious disease – AIDS. So, my dad, who specialized in sexually transmitted diseases, was recruited by the U.S. government to move us permanently to Atlanta and work full-time at the Center for Disease Control.
CF: And suddenly – you’re immigrants.
KZ: Yes. Not my plan at all. And there was this one kid who started shouting mean things at my sister and me. He’d yell, “You’re spics!” I was shocked. I could never think of a response in time because my English still wasn’t good enough. So, I would go home and write what he had said, and then write what I wish I’d said and so on.
CF: You wrote for survival?
KZ: Yes. Because I began thinking, “Why is this boy insulting me?” I’d answer my own question theorizing that perhaps his mom was cruel or his dad drinks. So, I began creating his backstory by writing his dialogue. I was only ten – I didn’t know I was already writing a play.
CF: Did you ever confront him?
KZ: No. Because once I ran into him, I had so much compassion for this poor boy. I felt like I knew him and his pain better than he knew himself.
CF: So, your plan backfired?
KZ: Yes and no. It became how I learned to navigate being an immigrant, by trying to figure out the bridges and walls in my world. I believe my writing stems from being that girl who didn’t understand why she was being called names, who’d never seen the snow – being an outsider observing a situation. And our family were the outsiders, we were the only Mexicans at our school and our father was working on identifying this new pandemic. We lived in the AIDS house.
CF: That’s one of the most unique immigration stories I’ve ever heard.
KZ: Being Latin American is a diverse complex experience. And exploring our varied narrative has always been my modus operandi: subverting expectations while honoring our truths.
CF: You went on to graduate from Stanford, work for a non-profit in D.C., advocate for Ecuadorian women to vote, then return to graduate school to earn a degree in writing which led to you founding the D.C.’s Young Playwright’s Theater?
KZ: Yes. For 25 years, we’ve helped students explore conflict resolution through playwriting — in English and Spanish! We believe that everyone has a story worth telling. It was like an arts empowerment literacy course, and now our program is in almost every single D.C. school. In 2010, the Obama White House presented us the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. CF: And you’ve continued your arts activism through your numerous original and adapted plays, musicals for young audiences and ballet librettos which have garnered you the Steinberg Citation, Paul Aneillo Award, National Francesca Primus Prize, New Voices Award, National Latino Play Award, Finalist Susan Blackburn, Helen Hayes for Outstanding New Play – all very prestigious accolades. What is it about theater that turns you on?
KZ: It’s live. It’s not like any other medium.
CF: What’s the first play you saw?
KZ: Omygosh – as a child in Mexico I saw Anita la Huerfanita (Annie), Little Foxes, Camelot and Evita – that really rocked my world. For my birthday, I’d always asked to be taken to see a show. Because theater is more than just a story, it’s about community. It’s about the audience sharing that journey with you — laughing, crying, connecting. I hate to feel disconnected, it’s how I felt when I first moved to the U.S. So, everything I’ve done has been a way of figuring out connections and building bridges. CF: And your new play, Native Gardens, is about neighbors who are building a fence. What was the play’s inception?
KZ: I was at a dinner party, wondering aloud as to what I should write next. My friend told me about the fight he was having with his neighbor. An eavesdropping partygoer chimed-in that she was fighting with her neighbor, too — another added that her mother in Florida was arguing with her neighbor. They were all minor spats about shrubs or mailboxes or driveways, but the arguing parties were all very emotionally invested because fighting with your neighbor impacts your home life.
CF: Instant drama. KZ: Yes. I noticed how all the conflicts were so primal and absurd. And I realized that most of the world’s conflicts come down to two neighbors disagreeing about property or taste or culture. I thought that if I could examine this situation through a micro-lens, we could learn a lot. I decided to focus on a young Latinx couple who move into an established, predominantly white neighborhood in Washington, D.C. The Latino husband is a rising attorney and his pregnant wife is a PhD student — not the type of Latinx characters often portrayed on stage. Their neighbors are Anglos: she’s an engineer and he’s the gardener. A minor concern about their property line quickly escalates. I thought what if I present four well-meaning, good characters who enter into a fight where we can see how it could have been avoided if everyone had made a different decision – instead of adding gasoline to the fire? That’s what Native Gardens became. It premiered early in 2016 – before the election. But it speaks to our present divisiveness. About a country being at war with itself.
CF: And it’s a comedy.
KZ: Yes. You laugh because everybody is right and wrong. The humor allows us to address thorny issues. You go back and forth judging the couples, but I was careful to make them all redeemable – because they’re just human. At play’s end, hopefully, the viewer judges themselves.
CF: Critics have judged your play to be an important new work that speaks to our current national crises. I’ve heard it called a “must-see” theatrical event. What advice you have for young playwrights? KZ: First, figure out what your voice is. Whatever makes you feel different or weird is actually your superpower. And, try to understand your play, however, do not tame it. It takes time to develop a writing style, but no one can tell your story like you, so don’t try to sound like anybody else.
CF: And Native Gardens is like no other contemporary play. Uproarious and relevant, this all-star production is directed by Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander, featuring Christian Barillas (Modern Family), Academy Award nominee Bruce Davison (Longtime Companion, X-Men), Frances Fisher (Titanic), and Jessica Meraz (Major Crimes). It runs from September 5th thru 30, 2018 (press opening September 9th). Tickets are available at: pasadenaplayhouse.org
About the Author: Cris Franco is a four-time Southern California Area EMMY Award-winning television, radio, print and web journalist.
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