Native Gardens

by Karen Zacarías

Directed by Victoria Collado

Starring Diana Garle, Kevin Cruz, Barbara Sloan, and David Kwiat
June 10 – July 16, 2023
Preview performance: Friday, June 9

Native Gardens
is produced with generous
support from

Shell Lumber and Hardware

Additional support provided by
Knight Foundation
With the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners.
Running Time: 90 minutes.
No Intermission.

Please note: Masks are strongly encouraged, but not required.

“Native Gardens is a true breath of comic fresh air.”

In this sparkling comedy of good intentions and bad manners, cultures and gardens clash, turning well-intentioned neighbors into feuding enemies. Pablo, a rising attorney, and doctoral candidate Tania, his very pregnant wife, have just purchased a home next to Frank and Virginia, a well-established D.C. couple with a prize-worthy English garden. But an impending barbeque for Pablo’s colleagues and a delicate disagreement over a long-standing fence line soon spiral into an all-out border dispute, exposing both couples’ notions of race, taste, class and privilege. Starring Diana Garle, Kevin Cruz, Barbara Sloan, and David Kwiat.

Reviews

“Native Gardens is a true breath of comic fresh air. It’s a biting, perceptive, and ultimately hopeful sendup to our fraught relationships with those around us – even right next door. Beyond snappy one-liners and garden hose fights, the play challenges audiences to look beyond petty differences and rediscover our shared decency.”—DC Theatre Scene

“It’s a perfect summer play. It has sharp, witty writing, lots of laughs, a strong cast, a beautiful set, a sense of currency and immediacy, and an ideal summer length: 90 minutes, no intermission. Everything about it clicks and hums.” —Minnesota Post

Pre-Show Talks

Resident Dramaturg Karina Batchelor or Producing Artistic Director Bari Newport will present dramaturgical presentations 25 minutes before each performance.

Cast

Diana Garle

Tania Del Valle

Diana Garle is honored to be back at GableStage. Previous GableStage credits include WATSON, KINGS and THE HUMANS. Her work both on-screen and on-stage has been seen internationally in over 45 countries. On stage, she was last seen in Summer Shorts 25th Anniversary. Her screen work in the past year has lead her to play opposite William Forsythe and Michael Paré as Liza the lead in the film “9 Windows”, as well as with the Tony/Emmy/Golden Globe Winner, Mary Louise Parker, in the film “Omni Loop”. Most recently, Diana was one of the lead roles for the romantic-comedy “Just Say Yes” directed by Lindsay Hartley as well as leading in three short films set to premiere in Film Festivals such as Sundance and OutFest. She is set to lead in the feature film “The Serenade Charade” shooting in Los Angeles this fall! Diana is a proud member of Actors Equity Association. Diana was named one of American Theatre Magazine’s “People to Watch: Theatre Workers You Should Know”. Follow her at @dianagarle

Photo: Morgan Sofia Photography

Kevin Cruz

Pablo Del Valle

Kevin Cruz is a recent graduate from New World School of the Arts (BFA) and is grateful to have work in the theatre after such a difficult time. Last seen this year in Refuge (Wolf) at FAU Theatrelab and Tommy (Grand Horizons).

Photo: Bachi Frost

Barbara Sloan

Virginia Butley

Barbara Sloan has been active in the South Florida theatre scene for the past 25 years. Past productions at GableStage: The White Card, The Real Thing, Burn This, Strange Snow, Sons of the Prophet, Stalking the Bogeyman and Admissions. She received a Silver Palm Award for her work in Vita and Virginia (Vanguard Theatre) and has received Carbonell nominations for Wit, The Book of Ruth (New Theatre) 2.5 Minute Ride (Mosaic Theatre) and Last Summer at Bluefish Cove (New River Rep) and Vita and Virginia (Vanguard Theatre). She has also performed at Actors’ Playhouse, Coconut Grove Playhouse and Florida Stage. Barbara is a veteran voice-over artist having dubbed films and novellas, as well as numerous commercials, industrial and independent films. She is a faculty member at New York Film Academy, specializing in physical theater and is a certified yoga instructor. Barbara is honored to be part of GableStage’s emboldened venture into the future.

Photo: George Schiavone

David Kwiat

Frank Butley

David Kwiat GableStage: Wiesenthal, The Children, Indecent, If I Forget, Ruined, QED (Carbonell Award Best Actor), Dirty Blonde (Carbonell Award Best Supporting Actor), November, Romance, Adam Baum and the Jew Movie, Mind Game and Psychopathia Sexualis. Palm Beach Dramaworks: Twelve Angry Men, The People Downstairs and Ordinary Americans (Carbonell Award, Best Supporting Actor). Zoetic Stage: The Caretaker (Carbonell Award Best Actor), Dracula, Passion, Detroit and The Great God Pan. Actors’ Playhouse: August: Osage County, Communicating Doors and Comic Potential. Plays of Wilton Manors: The Actors. David also has performed with the Guthrie Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company and the Asolo Repertory Theater. He performed at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and the King’s Head Theater in London with his one-person show John Barrymore: Confessions of an Actor. For three decades David was a professor in the Theater Division of New World School of the Arts in Miami.

Photo: Robert Naols

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Karen Zacarías

Karen Zacarías’ award-winning plays include Mariela in the Desert, The Sins of Sor Juana, the adaptation of Julia Alvarez’s How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, and Legacy of Light. Her TYA musicals with composer Debbie Wicks la Puma include Einstein is a Dummy, Looking for Roberto Clemente, Jane of the Jungle, Cinderella Eats Rice and Beans, Ferdinand the Bull, and Frida Libre. Ms. Zacarías is currently working on the adaptation of Helen Thorpe’s nonfiction book on immigration, Just Like Us, for the Denver Theater Center and an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence at Arena Stage. She is currently writing the libretto of The Sun Also Rises for the Washington Ballet, a play for the American Revolution series for Oregon Shakespeare Theater, a new comedy for Cincinnati Playhouse, and a Brazilian themed musical for young people for the Kennedy Center. Her plays have been produced at The Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, The Goodman, Round House Theater, The Denver Center, Alliance Theater, Imagination Stage, GALA, Berkshire Theater Festival, South Coast Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Cleveland Play House, San Jose Rep, and more. Her awards include 2010 Steinberg Citation-Best New Play, National Francesca Primus Prize, New Voices Award, National Latino Play Award, Finalist Susan Blackburn, Helen Hayes for Outstanding New Play. She grew up in Atlanta, but now calls D.C. home where she is playwright-in-residence at Arena Stage and teaches at Georgetown University. She is the founder of Young Playwrights’ Theater, an award-winning theatre company that teaches playwriting in local public schools in Washington, D.C.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Victoria Collado

Victoria Collado is a Cuban-American director creating adventurous storytelling experiences on-stage and on-screen. She is also the co-founder of Abre Camino Collective with Vanessa Garcia.

Named Best Director of 2020 by the Miami New Times, Collado is well-known for her direction of the hit immersive theatre piece, The Amparo Experience, which was named “Miami’s Hottest Ticket” by People en Español. She also directed the Inaugural Anthem Award-winning digital piece Black Feminist Video Game written by Darrel Alejandro Holnes. She was the assistant Director to Tony Taccone on Broadway’s Latin History for Morons by John Leguizamo.

Most recently in film, Victoria directed the Social Media version of Amparo (@theamparoexperience) and is working on multiple documentaries; one of which is based on the life of legendary actor, Ruben Rabasa and a short film called Miami Magic by comedienne and actor, Natalie Birriel.

Photo: Lava Alapai

GableStage is proud to announce its non-profit partnership for the production of Native Gardens

"Dedicated to educating our members, our youth, and the public in gardening, horticulture, environmental issues, community beautification, and the art of floral design."

To become a non-profit production partner please email tpalmer@gablestage.org