6 minute read
Native Gardens
by Karen Zacarías Directed by Julia Rosa Sosa Chaparro
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FAMOUS FEUDS IN WORLD HISTORY
The Wars of the Roses
Fought between the houses of Lancaster and York from 1455-1485, the wars were a battle for the throne of England. Both houses claimed this through their descent from Edward III. The series of civil wars lasted several decades but ended when Henry VII (House of Lancaster), defeated Richard III (House of York) and shortly after married Elizabeth of York, joining the two houses. The name of the wars refers to the badges associated with the two houses: the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster.
The Forty-Seven Ronin Incident (or the Ako Vendetta)
In the early 1700s when Japan was ruled by the Tokugaw Shoguns, Asano Naganori (lord of Ako) was tasked with carrying out formal duties at the shogun’s court. He was continually disrespected by a pompous official named Kira Yoshinaka to the point that Asano lost his temper, drew his sword, and attacked Kira. He was sentenced to death immediately. Upon learning of Asano’s death, his fortyseven loyal samurai bodyguards (now reduced to ronin: a masterless samurai) took revenge. In order to catch Kira and the authorities off guard, the ronin waited nearly two years and then killed him in an outhouse in 1703.
The Butleys and the Del Valles battle it out for two feet of land in their backyards, but disputes like these have been happening as long as people have had opinions. Here’s a list of some of the most well-known, bloody, and downright ridiculous.
The Hatfields & The McCoys
Perhaps the most famous of any known family feud in the western world, an argument between two Appalachian families over a hog started a decades long battle. Though drama and tension between the families had been bubbling since the Civil War, in 1878 Randolph McCoy accused Floyd Hatfield of stealing his pig. This set into motion years of lawsuits, murder, and death lasting until 1891.
Images in order: Choosing the Red and White Roses in the Temple Garden by Henry Payne (1908), Ukiyo-e print depicting the attack on Kira by Utagawa Kuniteru, The Hatfields, Joan and Bette in happier times.
Joan Crawford & Bette Davis
Rounding out our list of famous feuds is one not quite so bloody, but no less vicious. Joan Crawford was already a star when Bette Davis arrived on the scene in 1930. Though there are many theories as to the start of their mutual dislike, one is that Davis’ first headlining feature film, Ex-Lady, was premiering in 1933. Crawford managed to overshadow Davis’ premiere by announcing her divorce from husband Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Ex-Lady’s robust publicity was reduced to a small paragraph in The New York Times review section, while Crawford’s divorce was front-page news. So began decades of petty comments, insults, pranks, and the upstaging of Davis by Crawford (and vice versa). They eventually worked together in 1962 on Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? where art imitated life and ultimately led Davis to quip, “The best time I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?”.
Do you know your neighbors? Do you truly know the people near where you sleep, eat, dream? If you answered yes, you may be in the rare group of people that still do the neighborly thing. These days, I swear many neighbors only connect through their community Facebook Julia Rosa group fighting in the comment section. My fiancé and I just moved to our first home, Sosa Chaparro and I don’t know my neighbors—with the pandemic I have an excuse—but it made me think about when I was a child growing up in the desert. Back then, I knew everybody in the neighborhood: the fights, the gossip, and even the romances. Life was different then: I lived in the desert, and social media was not a thing yet, so you had to go outside and play.
The pandemic hit the world hard, so getting to know new people was not in the cards for me. In my isolation, I explored plants, finding ways to connect to something alive. Even though I lived far from the desert and could not travel to see my family, I could connect by putting cacti all over our home. My botanical exploration had mixed results—my fiancé called me a plant murderer (but there was no motive, your honor!). Plus, I only killed plants very high maintenance to keep alive.
Aside from my plants, I have been desiring to get to know my human neighbors, but unfortunately, I didn’t meet them before the pandemic. So now, I feel a little rusty making connections, unlike our friends the Butleys and Del Valles. Being “neighborly” describes itself, but it’s hard to remember how to do it in practice. Creating a relationship with your neighbors can sometimes be a relationship of a lifetime—I’ve seen it with my childhood neighbors—or it could be a historical feud like the Capulets and Montagues…and maybe the Del Valles and the Butleys.
A cordial relationship must be cultivated, nurtured, and cared for just like a garden. Neighbors can save lives. They can be the ones who give important information about your well-being to first responders. And our neighbors can provide day-to-day glimpses of humanity and care, like a smile in the morning. Did we forget how to be caring to those closest to us after so much time apart?
I think about the Butleys and the Del Valles and how maybe they would have never connected if they lived in our world today. Both Virginia and Frank would have been at high risk for Covid due to their age. Fortunately, in the world of this play, Covid-19 does not exist. They can be neighborly and help us understand the metaphors for the state of the world, where land is fought for and claimed; but in the end, nature is resilient. Much like the desert plants I bought when we went on lockdown. Those tough cacti are still alive!
All this to say, it’s worth getting to know each other. It’s human to have conflict with one another, but we are smart enough to find solutions. The heart of this play for me is the connection. Fighting is easy. The beauty is in the struggle that comes with acknowledging the problem and finding ways to fix it: to grow a neighborly connection into a flourishing garden.
One Act No Intermission
CREATIVE TEAM
Director Julia Rosa Sosa Chaparro Scenic Design AnnDee Alvidrez Costume Design Rossina Lozoya Lighting Design Kevin Frazier Sound Design Cece Smith Dialect Coach Rebecca Bossen EDI Deputy Matt Zambrano
STAGE MANAGEMENT
Stage Manager Marcus Carroll* Asst. Stage Manager Kelsea Sibold
CAST
Tania Del Valle Emily Bosco* Pablo Del Valle Matt Zambrano* Virginia Butley Christy Brandt* Frank Butley Stuart Rider* Ensemble Brandon Guzman Alejandro Rowinsky Understudies Kate Berry* Brandon Guzman Chris Van Winkle
Native Gardens is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
Native Gardens was commissioned and first produced by Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park under Blake Robison (Artistic Director) and Buzz Ward (Managing Director).
Content Information: This play contains some mature themes, depictions of smoking, and horticultural mayhem.
San Luis Valley Federal Bank
