Jan 15 deadline: reserve ticket for Native Gardens theater outing in Sarasota

A scene in stage setup from the Native Gardens play.

Native Gardens, Sunday, February 18th, showtime 2:00pm in Sarasota

Join the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) and the Florida Association of Native Nurseries (FANN) for a fun afternoon of theatre! The Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota is staging a production of “Native Gardens” which, on the surface, highlights the differing gardening styles of two neighboring families. As described by the Chicago Tribune:

The Karen Zacarias play “Native Gardens,”…is one of the very few contemporary comedies about racism, sexism, ageism and cultural privilege. It’s a warm-centered and potentially empathetic piece, set in a pair of Washington-area backyards, that holds on to the fast-receding ideal that we should all be able to live next door to each other, whatever our background, age and politics, even as the play rightly observes that such harmony cannot exist without some willingness for self-examination, especially on the side of the fence where historical privilege has resided.

The metaphor of import is a garden, tended by Frank Butley, a former federal employee whose style of choice is the formal English garden: ivy, geraniums and the like, all carefully cultivated with the help of a little insecticide and the support of a loving fellow-Republican wife, aptly named Virginia.

When a new couple move in next door, a Chilean lawyer named Pablo Del Valle and his American wife, Tania, a doctoral student with a kid on the way, initial over-the-fence encounters are friendly, even though Frank and Tania (who prefers the native wildflowers that Frank deems weeds) quickly figure out that they have very different conceptions of what should be in a garden, the proximate representation of the natural world being yet another thing on which Americans often fail to agree.

But things go awry when the Del Valle family finds out that Frank’s precious blooms are on their land. The fence between the houses does not accurately reflect the boundary line. Things deteriorate from there.

Showtime is at 2pm, tickets are $33. We also have the option of reserving tables at 12:15pm for lunch at the theatre’s Green Room and Bar. The cost of lunch is not included in the ticket price. See here for the menu: https://www.floridastudiotheatre.org/sites/default/files/17-18_green_room_menu_0.pdf

Contact SCCF’s Native Landscapes & Garden Center at 239-472-1932 for more information and to reserve your spot! Advanced payment is required and reservations must be received by January 15th.

Thanks to FANN VP Jenny Evans of Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Native Landscapes & Garden Center for setting this up!