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| Juan Rivera Lebron (Pablo), Cotter Smith (Frank), Laurie Klatscher (Virginia) and Evelyn Hernandez (Tania) Credit: Kristi Jan Hoover all photos |
Let me tell you!
After getting to my seat at City Theatre, I turned around toward the stage and
stood aghast in amazement. Right before my eyes was a breathtaking set, full of
color, perfectly timely for a first day of spring.
I’ve been a fan of
set designer, Tony Ferrieri, for years. He’s dazzled me before numerous times
with his intricately creative sets. This one for a staging of Native Gardens at
City Theatre may just be one of his best yet.
The task of
replicating two upscale townhouses in a posh area of our nation’s capital with
very dissimilar back yards complete with a towering oak tree seems daunting to
me. I wouldn’t know where to start, but Ferrieri put his years of experience to
good use and created a dazzler so in-your-face, it almost assumes the role of
one of the comedy drama’s characters.
Peopling this al
fresco setting are two couples whose houses and properties are a bit too close
to one another. Their back yards don’t seem to afford them much privacy. They
could give prying eyes and nebbish-y neighbors an all-too-convenient vantage
point.
Frank and Virginia
(Cotter Smith and Laurie Klatscher respectively) are retired sexagenarians
living the good life. Pablo and Tania (Juan Rivera Lebron and Evelyn Hernandez)
are younger, upwardly mobile, educated and motivated. Both have a Latino
background while Frank and Virginia are WASPs to the core.
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| Cotter Smith (Frank) at work in his garden |
Early on, we find
Frank puttering around his immaculately trimmed, weeded and flourishing garden
of blue hydrangeas and red geraniums. Frank is obsessively punctilious when it
comes to maintaining his horticultural pursuits. He has had his eye on winning
the local garden club contest, which as been going on for years. So far, he’s
only come up empty.
Virginia is much
more relaxed, sociable and easy going. When she and her husband meet their new
neighbors, she is the most gracious and welcoming of the quartet.
The initial
neighborly encounter starts off well. It’s all good will, harmony and well
wishing. The established couple are pleased
to learn that Pablo works for a prestigious law firm and that pregnant
Tania is working on her Doctorate.
Things begin to
take a different tone when Tania reveals her intent to cultivate native plants
in a more natural setting, something that sets alarm bells ringing in Frank’s
mind. How would that affect the look of his adjacent property he begins to
wonder. Clashing ecosystems, he and she envision.
And what about the
huge oak tree that drops leaves and acorns in the fall, which means more work
and maintenance on Frank’s part. On the other hand, when Frank suggests Pablo
and Tania consider cutting down the tree, Tania is especially horrified by the
thought of using a chainsaw to fell such a majestic specimen. It’s yet another
object of contention.
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| Evelyn Hernandez (Tania) Tree Hugging Her Oak |
Differing horticultural
philosophies are one thing, but the stakes get even higher when it’s discovered
that the property line is out of kilter. The younger couple, it appears, is
entitled to a couple feet more of real estate along the line that extends along
the edge of the adjoining back yards.
The matter becomes
urgent because Frank’s garden club contest is imminent at a time when Pablo and Tania are hosting a back yard
barbecue for Pablo’s law firm. The newly planned fence that rights the property
dispute needs to be erected before the barbecue, which would destroy the
carefully planned garden aesthetic Frank so scrupulously cultivates.
Playwright Karen
Zacarias cleverly ratchets up the intensity of the dispute over a good portion
of the play, scripting an arc of neighborly relations that start off well but
soon heat up the abandonment of social niceties. The gardening gloves come off
,and the boxing gloves go on.
Director Marc
Masterson keeps the brawl, which sometimes descends into comedic silliness,
from getting out of hand. He insures the civil qualities of all parties
concerned overcome any chance for violence. After all, the play is a comedy
despite its venturing into some vexing social, ethnic and cultural issues.
Pablo, the most
fiery and hot-headed of the quartet, is followed in degree by Tania and Frank.
Virginia is the most reluctant to slink into the brawl, but, she too eventually
succumbs to the heat of the moment. All four get territorial as the tensions
mount.
How do you
extricate the plot from this melee to create a satisfying conclusion you ask.
Zacarias takes a sort of deus ex machina approach to bring things to a
satisfying close. It’s one that comes unexpectedly, but it’s one that sure
feels like a digestible antidote. As the lady in Gypsy so famously once sang
“Everything’s Coming up Roses.”
Native Gardens is
at the City Theatre on Pittsvburgh’s South Side through April 2. For more
information and tickets, phone 412-431-2489.
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