Theatre: Native Gardens

Native Gardens is a sharp, timely comedy by playwright Karen Zacarías that explores race, class, privilege, and good intentions gone awry.

The play centers on two neighboring couples locked in a seemingly simple dispute over a backyard property line—one pair longtime homeowners, the other new arrivals determined to reclaim native plants and environmental ideals.

As the argument escalates, Native Gardens uses humor and escalating tension to examine how personal values, cultural assumptions, and unspoken biases collide.

Smart, fast-paced, and often laugh-out-loud funny, the play invites audiences to reflect on how easily civility can give way to conflict—and how deeply identity and history shape even the smallest slices of land.