A comedy that also makes you think?

Jamie Ulmer • January 13, 2025

"Native Gardens" brings timely laughs and questions

Welcome to our first show of 2025! At first glance, Native Gardens is a lighthearted comedy about neighbors feuding over a fence and a flowerbed. Beneath the humor, however, there are timely and complex issues to be explored.


Debuting in 2016, Karen Zacarías’ play has become one of the most produced shows in the country. The idea for the play took root (pun intended) during a dinner party Zacarias attended and the conversation turned to petty disputes her friends were having with their neighbors.


“We were laughing about how absurd these fights are,” Zacarias said. “But there was also something so primal about it. Like every conflict in the world, every war is a fight between neighbors. I thought, ‘What would happen if I just made it about plants in the backyard?’”


As you will see, the play’s conflict sprouts from not just the dispute over a property line, but the perception of who we see as different than ourselves. That difference could be anything from age, to race, to economic background. How do we coexist with our neighbors – be it next door, across town, or across the country – when our disagreements can spiral into absurdity? There has been no shortage of this over the past several years. Do those conflicts reveal something deeper about our communities?


It’s one of the hidden super powers of comedy to open the door for us to consider these questions. The act of sharing a laugh creates an immediate connection, a common ground, to start a conversation, or consider alternative points of view and realize that we can be right and wrong at the same time. Sneaky thing – a well crafted laugh.


“Over the years, I’ve had people write to me and tell me that they chose not to escalate a problem with a neighbor after seeing the play. That’s the best reward I’ve had from it,” Zacarias says. “While watching the play you may judge one couple and then judge the other, but in the end, I hope the person you are judging is yourself. How can we all be better neighbors?”


Not bad for a comedy about squabbling neighbors.


Enjoy the show!

Jamie Ulmer

Executive Director


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