The latest Market House Theatre production is “Native Gardens,” a comedy that the Paducah playhouse leadership hopes can facilitate a powerful discussion about class, privilege and entitlement.
The play – originally written by Karen Zacarías in 2019 – is about a community where cultures and gardens clash amid a horticultural competition, turning neighbors into enemies. Kerstin Vaughn is the guest director of the production.
“We've got an older couple and a younger couple. And the younger couple moves into this new neighborhood. And they learned that the fence was put up on the wrong property line. And so when they go to put in their new fence, we learned that it's going to destroy the older couples' gardens,” Vaughn said. “So they're trying to figure out how to move forward in the best way so that they can have a good neighborly relationship and also preserve each of their yards. It gets quite out of hand very quickly.”
When a younger Hispanic family moves to the neighborhood, contemporary political issues are brought to the surface in the reactions of the older white neighbors.
“We've got this border dispute for the backyard. That's something that's very average and typical,” she said. “[Zacharias] writes about it in a really fun comic way, and also uses it to talk about important social issues.”
Public performances of “Native Gardens” at Market House Theatre begin Friday and run through Feb. 4. Show times, tickets and more information can be found online.
