SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)—On February 13th, Syracuse Stage debuted a new production, “Native Gardens.” Not only does the play entertain and instruct, but it also created history.
“Native Gardens” is the first play ever assembled by Syracuse Stage that features a creative crew fully consisted of women of color. But, Syracuse Stage Marketing and Communication Director Joseph Whelan speculates that history reaches far beyond Syracuse.
“Nobody can seem to think of a time when that happened in a regional theater like Syracuse Stage,” Whelan said.
Syracuse Stage Managing Director Jill A. Anderson agrees.
“In fact, this may be the first such team in a theatre such as ours anywhere in the country,” Anderson writes in the production’s program.
Even though Syracuse Stage assembled this creative lineup, Whelan says this historic feat wasn’t put together intentionally.
“Actually, it wasn’t a deliberate decision. We just sort of noticed that after the fact.” Whelan later added, “Literally, nobody even thought about it until Bob Hupp, the artistic director here, said ‘Hey, has nobody noticed this?’ Nobody really had.”
The novelty of the fully women of color creative team strikes Whelan as interesting.
“It’s kind of cool in a way,” Whelan remarked.
“Native Gardens,” written by Karen Zacarias, includes themes of diversity. A white couple and Latinx couple argue over a portion of land in their respective backyards in Washington, D.C. Whelan confirmed that the performance resembles the rift President Trump has established with his proposed wall along the United States-Mexico border.
Yet, even though the play discusses such a sensitive topic, there are many instances of humor throughout. Whelan thinks comedy is an effective way to educate an audience about pressing issues.
“If it’s a drama, people sometimes have the feeling like, ‘Oh, I’m being blamed’ or ‘I’m being preached at,’” Whelan said. “In a comedy, you don’t sort of have that. You get people laughing. Then, you kind of relax them and you open them up to being more receptive to ideas in some ways.”
Whelan wouldn’t divulge what portion of the play made him laugh the most. But, Whelan believes Zacarias allots humor throughout the performance.
“I think one of the things that Karen Zacarias is so wonderful about is — we say things, and particularly for the older couple — they say things and they don’t realize they’re maybe being offensive,” Whelan chuckled. “They don’t realize that maybe they’re making assumptions that aren’t true.”
Whelan says there’s been no pushback to portraying a tense issue with laughter.
“What I’ve heard from people leaving the theater is that it’s good to have a laugh about this. It’s good to be able to have a laugh amid all this sort of madness we’re dealing with.”
Tickets for “Native Gardens” at Syracuse Stage are on sale from now until March 3rd. For more information on available show dates and times, click here.
