It’s said the best comedy draws a picture of people behaving at their worst. If that’s true, “Native Gardens” is a mural.
The 90-minute comedy, playing at Curtain Call Theatre in Latham until June 9, is not a cute play about profound issues. Rather, it’s a very funny play about serious issues.
It touches on every -ism that is dividing society and has you laughing almost continuously.
The humor in the play comes from the fact that no one in the four-character play is willing to find a common sense solution to a two-foot property boundary issue between neighbors.
Since this takes place in an upscale community in Washington, D.C. it signals that this is a classic situation of smart people being stupid.
One of the couples is of retirement age, white and from established money. The other is a younger, dark-skinned couple with Latin-sounding names. Clearly, the humor will be about more than foolish comic behavior.
But to appreciate the comedy, some forgiveness is essential. The plot and time line created by playwright Karen Zacarias is filled with holes.
No husband would invite his entire company to his new home and give his 9-month pregnant wife less than a week to prepare. Neither could they get the property surveyed, and a fence constructed within the play’s timeline.
By the second scene you have to decide do you want to spend time with Arthur Miller and debate the nature of the individual or laugh at the silliness of people as if in a play by Neil Simon. I advise that you throw plot logic aside and enjoy yourself.
To be fair to the playwright, she captures a bit of both. Throughout the play the individuals are shown as reasonable people who know there is a path to solving the problem. However, each couple permits ego, self-interest or materialism to get in the way of peace. Also in play are ingrained prejudices of race, age, entitlement, etc. Even their opinions about the style of a flower garden is in conflict.
Somehow, it all adds up to a delightful experience. I don’t remember a funnier scene than Sunday’s execution of the play’s climax that involves clipping shears, a faulty water hose, a chainsaw and flowers flying everywhere.
The only negative about the moment is you fear for the destruction of the amazing set. Comic in tone, the backyard of the two homes is stunning, attractive and utilitarian.
The work of designer Frank Oliva, scenic designer Lilly Fossner, and the construction by Peter Max is almost a work of art. Thankfully, it is not destroyed by comic mayhem.
The play has an epilogue that could be cloying had not the actors so effectively created characters who the audience desperately want to coexist in harmony. Sweet in nature, several individual moments draw spontaneous applause because finally good people have come to their senses.
The cast is marvelous. Phil Rice, a long time regular actor/director at Curtain Call and the now-defunct Theatre Barn, has nicely aged into the old cranky neighbor role. His phenomenal sense of comic timing makes the flower-growing enthusiast a nice man who is obsessively competitive.
As his wife, Barbara Maggio, a one-time feminist groundbreaker as an engineer, tries to be a peacemaker, but her directness sometimes fuels the flames of irritation.
Danny Perez, fresh off impressive work in Home Made Theater’s “The Humans” once again creates a gentle, almost passive individual who, when pushed, shows a lot of determination. He, too, has great comic instincts.
Angelique Powell is his wife. One of the area’s most gifted and hard-working actors, she creates a perfect portrait of an intelligent person who is filled with kindness and sweetness - until angered.
Powell’s casting is perhaps the perfect analogy for “Native Gardens.” Her normal acting choices are to play strong women in plays with deep social and political meaning. Her work in this comedy is not abandoning those principles. Instead, it’s evidence that you can make a lot of strong statements by having people laugh at stupidity. And she and her cast mates do that well.
In a play that combines physical jokes, witty humor and insightful political humor, credit must go to the director. In this case co-directors. I don’t know who did what, but the result of Steve Fletcher’s and Carol Max’s collaboration is a production that entertains and enlightens.
It continues Thursdays to Sundays at Curtain Call Theater in Latham until June 9. For tickets and schedule info go to curtaincalltheatre.com.
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.