BROOKFIELD — Things are blooming at the Brookfield Theatre for the Arts. Native Gardens, Karen Zacarias’s comedic play with a serious message, has opened on their horticultural extravaganza of a stage.

In an upscale neighborhood just outside Washington, DC, newcomers Tanya and Pablo DelValle (Andrea Flores and Ian Arbues, respectively) settle in to create a warm, nurturing, environmentally sound home in which to grow not only native plants, but their young family as well. Pablo, an up-and-coming attorney at a prestigious law firm, has ceded the landscaping to Tanya, his very pregnant and ecosystem-aware wife. Pablo is far too busy climbing the corporate ladder to participate in the renovation of his home.

In a spontaneous effort to get ahead, Pablo invites his entire department at the firm to a weekend barbecue at his house. The backyard is in need of sprucing up to have it party-ready and impressive enough to boost Pablo’s chances of a promotion to partner.

While prepping for the yard work, which is to be completed in a hot hurry, a survey of their yard finds the property lines are flawed.

Their neighbors, the older yet spry Frank and Virginia Butley (Ron Malyszka and Laurel Lettieri), have resided in their elegant home, complete with manicured gardens, for decades. They are well-to-do and proud of the relentless work they have done to wrangle their garden into a showpiece.

The couples are of different ilk — and neighborly, until they are not. With overt political overtones, the fabric of the new relationship shreds as each couple clings to their belief that they are in the right when it comes to the vision each holds for their yard and the planet as a whole. All attempts at civility fail and their dukes are put up.

The exceptional skill of each of these performers makes for an entertaining evening of theater. The comedy is well delivered and the laughs, authentic.

Flores is the yin to Arbues’s yang. Arbues flexes his acting muscles in this role and is simply wonderful as the excitable young Chilean lawyer. Flores reveals a calm yet determined quality in her Tanya.

The duo of Malyszka and Lettieri is classic. These two very talented actors can always be relied on to deliver. They do so here as well, as their characters rev their engines to defend their way of life.

The set, designed and built by Andrew Okell, is as good as it gets. It is a challenging set to conceive and create. Okell made it convincing.

Under the fine direction of Terry Sagedy, the action of the play adeptly meets the demands of breaking the fourth wall as it builds tension while the actors are separated by a fence.

There is every reason to go and see Native Gardens. Not only does is provide a comedic take on neighbors and fences, it teaches how we actually can all get along. Don’t miss it.

Performances continue Friday and Saturday, July 16-17, at 8 pm, and Sunday, July 18, at 2 pm, at the Brookfield Theatre for the Arts. Visit brookfieldtheatre.org for full details including ticket prices, reservations, and directions to the theater.