Regional NewsCasting Set for Karen Zacarías' Native Gardens, a Co-Production Between Guthrie and Arena StagePerformances begin at the Minneapolis, Minnesota venue in July.
By
Andrew Gans
June 29, 2017
Jacqueline Correa
The Guthrie Theater has announced casting for Native Gardens, a full-length one-act comedy by Karen Zacarías, which will play the McGuire Proscenium Stage at the Minneapolis venue July 15-August 20. A co-production with Arena Stage, the staging will also play the Washington, D.C., venue beginning September 15.
Directed by Blake Robison, the cast will feature Jacqueline Correa as Tania, Dan Domingues as Pablo, Steve Hendrickson as Frank Butley, and Sally Wingert as Virginia Butley. The cast will also feature Pedro Juan Fonseca and Reyna Rios. Correa, Domingues, Hendrickson, and Wingert will also play Arena Stage.
“It’s a thrill to present Karen’s work and to welcome her and Blake to the Guthrie for the first time,” stated Guthrie Artistic Director Joseph Haj. “When I read NativeGardens, I found it to be a sheer delight, and I look forward to sharing it with our audiences this summer.”
Director Robison added, “Karen is one of the few playwrights who knows how to write really great comedy—in the spirit of the good old-fashioned comedies. There’s a heightened nature of the interactions between the characters, but there’s also a great deal of truth in it. We have the privilege of finding where those meet and to tackle issues we’re all grappling with today in a big-hearted, relatable way.”
In Native Gardens, Pablo, a rising attorney, and doctoral candidate Tania, his pregnant wife, have purchased a home next to Frank and Virginia, a D.C. couple with a prize-worthy English garden. But an impending barbeque for Pablo’s colleagues and a dispute over a long-standing fence line soon spirals into a border dispute, exposing both couples’ notions of race, taste, class, and privilege.
The creative team includes scenic designer Joseph Tilford, costume designer Kara Harmon, lighting designer Xavier Pierce, sound designer Scott W. Edwards, original sound designer Joe Payne, vocal coach Lucinda Holshue, dramaturg Jo Holcomb, stage manager Michele Hossle, assistant stage manager Jason Clusman, and assistant director AnaSofía Villanueva.
NativeGardens had its world premiere in January 2016 at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.
