Cast and Creatives Announced For West Coast Premiere Of NATIVE GARDENS!

The Old Globe's 2017-2018 Season continues with today's announcement of the complete cast and creative team for the West Coast premiere of Karen Zacarías's Native Gardens, which was developed in the Globe's 2017 Powers New Voices Festival. Edward Torres (the Globe's Water by the Spoonful) directs this uproarious new comedy, playing May 26 - June 24, 2018 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Tickets start at $30.00 and are on sale to the general public now. Previews run May 26-30. Opening night is Thursday, May 31 at 8:00 p.m.

Young power couple Pablo and Tania get their piece of the American Dream when they purchase an upscale house in a historic neighborhood. But a disagreement with their next-door neighbors Virginia and Frank over the property line that separates their backyards soon spirals into an all-out war of taste, class, and gardening. The hedgerow becomes the site of a Culture Clash and friendly neighbors turn into flower-flinging enemies in this West Coast premiere.

The cast includes Kimberli Flores (Marvel/Netflix's "Daredevil," Pulse at Guthrie Theater) as Tania Del Valle, Peri Gilpin (Roz Doyle on "Frasier," "Broad City," and "Scorpion") as Virginia Butley, Eddie Martinez (member of Chicago's Teatro Vista, Fade Off Broadway) as Pablo Del Valle, and Mark Pinter (Globe's Red Velvet, Macbeth, Othello, and more) as Frank Butley, as well as local San Diego actors Jose Balistrieri (Gardener) and Alex Guzman (Gardener).

The creative team includes Collette Pollard (Scenic Design), Jennifer Brawn Gittings (Costume Design), Amanda Zieve (Lighting Design), Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design), Caparelliotis Casting (Casting), and Marie Jahelka (Production Stage Manager).

There will also be a brief Globe for All Tour to four of the Globe's valued community partner venues to follow the show's run at the Globe. Free Native Gardens performances will be seen at Chula Vista's Hilltop Middle School as part of South Bay Community Services on Thursday, June 28 at 6:15 p.m.; at Lemon Grove Academy/Lemon Grove Historical Society/Lemon Grove Branch Library on Friday, June 29 at 6:15 p.m.; at Otay Mesa-Nestor Branch Library on Saturday, June 30 at 12:45 p.m.; and at Oceanside Public Library, in the Community Room, on Sunday, July 1 at 12:45 p.m. Globe for All is a tour of a free professional theatre production that includes workshops and talkbacks, reaching thousands of people across San Diego County twice a year. Tour performances are by invitation only from the community partner organizations.

"It's a special pleasure for the Globe to bring this funny and smart play to San Diego audiences," said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "Native Gardens is being produced in theatres nationwide, and the reasons are clear. It's a play that's about the special character of American cities, where people from many backgrounds live cheek-by-jowl and come together to make urban cultures that are rich, diverse, and highly energetic. Karen Zacarías finds hilarity in, of all things, a property dispute, and she shows us in warm and witty terms how good neighbors can overcome just about any difference. Eddie Torres and his ace cast are going to deliver a memorable night of theatre to Balboa Park as well as to our neighbors around the county."

Karen Zacarías (Playwright) was recently hailed by American Theatre magazine as one of the most produced playwrights in the U.S. Her musical comedy Destiny of Desire is currently playing at Oregon Shakespeare Festival after runs at Goodman Theatre and South Coast Repertory. Her play Native Gardens is slated for more than 15 productions, including Guthrie Theater, Arena Stage, Trinity Repertory Company, South Coast Repertory, Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company, Florida Studio Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Intiman Theatre, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Geva Theatre Center, Syracuse Stage, and others. She is proud to be Arena Stage's first resident playwright. Her other plays include Mariela in the Desert, Legacy of Light, The Book Club Play, and The Sins of Sor Juana; the adaptations of Just Like Us, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent, Into the Beautiful North, OLIVÉRio: A Brazilian Twist, and Ella Enchanted the Musical; and many more. She collaborated on the libretto for Sleepy Hollow and Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises for The Washington Ballet at The Kennedy Center, and she has written 10 theatre-for-young-audience musicals with composer Deborah Wicks La Puma. Her plays have been produced at The Kennedy Center, Goodman Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Guthrie Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Round House Theatre, GALA Hispanic Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Center, Dallas Theater Center, and many more. Ms. Zacarías is a core founder of the Latino Theatre Commons, a national network that strives to update the American narrative to including the stories of Latinos. She is the founder of Young Playwrights' Theater, an award-winning theatre company that teaches playwriting in local public schools in Washington, DC. She lives in DC with her husband and three children.

Edward Torres (Director) returns to The Old Globe after directing the critically acclaimed California premiere of Water by the Spoonful as well as the 2017 Powers New Voices Festival reading of What You Are. Most recently he directed the California premiere of The Happiest Song Plays Last (Center Theatre Group, also at Goodman Theatre), Eric Aviles's Where You From? What You Be About? (Downtown Art), the world premiere musical La Canción (Repertorio Español; Latin ACE Award for Best Musical, Artistas de Teatro Independiente Award for Best Director), Macbeth (The Public Theater's Mobile Shakespeare Unit), Mosque Alert (Silk Road Rising), White Tie Ball by Martín Zimmerman (Teatro Vista), and How Long Will I Cry?: Voices of Youth Violence (Steppenwolf for Young Adults). He directed the world premiere of Kristoffer Diaz's The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Victory Gardens Theater, produced in association with Teatro Vista), which was named Best Play of 2009 by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and Time Out Chicago; was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; and earned Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best Production - Play and Best Director - Play. He also directed subsequent productions to critical acclaim at Off Broadway's Second Stage Theatre (2011 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, Obie Award for Best New American Play) and at Geffen Playhouse. He serves as an Assistant Professor of the Practice in Theater at Wesleyan University. As an actor you can see him this fall in Downstate by Bruce Norris in a co-production with Steppenwolf Theatre Company and London's National Theatre.

Native Gardens is supported in part through a gift from Production Sponsor Elaine Lipinsky Family Foundation. Financial support is provided by The City of San Diego.

Additional events taking place during the run of Native Gardens include:

VICKI AND CARL ZEIGER INSIGHTS SEMINAR: Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.

An opportunity to closely connect with productions both onstage and backstage. A panel selected from the artistic company of each show (playwrights, actors, directors, designers, and/or technicians) engages patrons in an informal and illuminating presentation of ideas and insights to enhance the theatregoing experience. Reception at 5:00 p.m. FREE.

SUBJECT MATTERS: Saturday, June 2, 2018, following the 2:00 p.m. matinee.

Jacqueline Higgins, Director of Planning, Design, and Programs for the Balboa Park Conservancy, will join us to discuss some of the ideas and issues raised by the production. Subject Matters will ignite discussion, bring the play's concerns into sharp focus, and encourage you to think beyond the stage! Higgins is a licensed Professional Landscape Architect, and she also worked in the environmental consulting field as a Restoration Landscape Architect, where her practice focused on ecological restorative and regenerative systems design. She is a member of the California Native Plant Society. FREE.

POST-SHOW FORUMS: Tuesdays, June 5 and June 12, and Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Join us after the show for an informal and enlightening question-and-answer session with cast, crew, and/or Globe staff members. Get the inside story on creating a character and putting together a professional production. FREE.

SINGLE TICKETS to Native Gardens start at $30.00 and are on sale to the general public now. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623], or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors, military members, and groups of 10 or more.

PERFORMANCES begin on May 26, 2018 and continue through June 24. Performance times: Previews: Saturday, May 26 at 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, May 27 at 7:00 p.m.; Tuesday, May 29 at 7:00 p.m.; and Wednesday, May 30 at 7:00 p.m. Opening night is Thursday, May 31 at 8:00 p.m. Regular performances (June 1 - June 24): Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m.; Thursday and Friday evenings at 8:00 p.m.; Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.; and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. There will be an additional matinee performance on Wednesday, June 13 at 2:00 p.m. and no matinee performance on Saturday, June 16 at 2:00 p.m. The GLOBE FOR ALL Tour performances will take place at Chula Vista's Hilltop Middle School as part of South Bay Community Services on Thursday, June 28 at 6:15 p.m., at Lemon Grove Academy/Lemon Grove Historical Society/Lemon Grove Branch Library on Friday, June 29 at 6:15 p.m., at Otay Mesa-Nestor Branch Library on Saturday, June 30 at 12:45 p.m., and at Oceanside Public Library, in the Community Room, on Sunday, July 1 at 12:45 p.m. Tour performances by invitation only from community partner organizations.

LOCATION and PARKING INFORMATION: The Old Globe is located in San Diego's Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. Through a special arrangement with the San Diego Zoo, Old Globe evening ticket-holders have the opportunity to pre-purchase valet parking in the Zoo's employee parking structure. With a drop-off point just a short walk to the Globe, theatregoers may purchase fast, easy, convenient valet parking for just $14 per vehicle per evening. Pre-paid only, available only by phone through The Old Globe Box Office. Call (619) 234-5623 or visit www.theoldglobe.org/plan-your-visit/directions--parking/valet-parking. The Balboa Park valet is also available during weekend performances, located in front of the Japanese Friendship Garden. For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org.

There are numerous free parking lots available throughout the park. Guests may also be dropped off in front of the Mingei International Museum. There is a 10-minute zone at The Old Globe, used only for daytime deliveries, ticket purchases, and handicapped access dropoff. For directions and up-to-date information, please visit www.theoldglobe.org/plan-your-visit/directions--parking/detailed-directions.

CALENDAR: The Wanderers (4/6-5/6), A Thousand Splendid Suns (5/12-6/17), AXIS: By the Community, For the Community (5/12), Native Gardens (5/26-6/24), AXIS: Kids' Dance Party, Featuring Dance to EvOLvE (6/12), The Tempest (6/17-7/22), AXIS: Make Music San Diego (6/21); Dr. Seuss's The Lorax (7/2-8/12), AXIS: Fourth District Seniors Resource Center's Globe Takeover, Featuring the Seasoned Line Dancers (7/10), Barefoot in the Park (7/28-8/26), Much Ado About Nothing (8/12-9/16), AXIS: LV's Island Flair, Featuring Dance Lessons with Elvina Addams (8/21), The Heart of Rock & Roll (9/6/18-10/21), AXIS: Mexican Independence Day Celebration, Featuring Las Colibrí in Concert (9/15), 2018 Globe Gala featuring Andra Day (9/22), AXIS: Day of the Dead Celebration (10/28).

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theatres and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for over 80 years. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of The Old Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theatre's artistic and arts engagement programs. Numerous world premieres such as the 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Meteor Shower, Bright Star, Allegiance, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and the annual holiday musical Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.:

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