If you've lived in Charlotte a while, you probably noticed those big white mansions that have been popping up in Charlotte's older working-class neighborhoods, replacing little ranch houses right next door to families who've lived there for decades, maybe even generations.
This tension is at the heart of a new comedy by Charlotte playwright Elaine Alexander, titled "Sex, Lies and a Sycamore Tree." It mixes suburban scandal, marital drama and even a fight to save the last sycamore tree in a fictional neighborhood overtaken by development.
WFAE's Nick de la Canal spoke with Alexander about her new production.
Nick de la Canal: So this play begins with a fictional married couple, Rick and Tracy, going next door to meet their new neighbors, Hugh and Ali, who have just moved into one of these big new mansions in the Sycamore Grove neighborhood. Without giving too much away, what happens from there?
Elaine Alexander: Well, they did not invite them over to their patio to be neighborly. The wife, Ali, has a concern about the neighbors' tree which is right near the property line, and she is not happy about it and she wants it down.
De la Canal: So Rick and Tracy, the working class couple — they've lived in this neighborhood for years and I imagine that they feel very protective of it.
Alexander: Yes, they do.
De la Canal: You've also lived in Charlotte for a long time. How has your experience watching the city change shaped your approach to this story?
Alexander: Well, yes, I've lived in Charlotte for over 30 years and I have seen a lot of these older established neighborhoods losing their trees and losing the character that made them special. I just think it's something that we have to be very careful about because gentrification does have its negatives. A lot of the people would like for their neighborhood to stay the way it is. They'd like the property taxes not to go up. They would prefer that they are not being overtaken by a house that shades their entire backyard where there used to be trees, and we have a real problem in Charlotte with losing our tree canopy.
De la Canal: The name of the neighborhood — Sycamore Grove — is perfect because there are so many neighborhoods with woodsy names in Charlotte. Sharon Forest, Beverly Woods, Hickory Grove. So I just want that noted. I think it's perfect.
Alexander: Well, thank you.
De la Canal: The play is also centered around this literal sycamore tree, the last in the neighborhood because the rest were chopped down for the new homes. Why put a tree at the center of this, and what does it represent?
Alexander: Well, the tree is representing so many trees that are cut down for development. I don't think I would put any more metaphorical significance on it than that. This couple, they are homesteaders. They've been there, I would imagine, since the '70s when the neighborhood was put up, and they have a sycamore tree that the first developers planted. And so they want to protect their tree. They love their tree.
De la Canal: You've also added adultery into the mix, and again, you don't have to give too much away, but "Sex" is in the title. What does that bring to the story?
Alexander: Well, I wanted to write a play about the environment, but I didn't want to make it sanctimonious and lecturing. I'm very interested in exploring human relationships, and adultery is more common than people would think. I mean, it's not as public as the Coldplay concert on the kiss cam, but it is very prevalent.
My husband is a marriage therapist, and you know, a lot of couples come discreetly to discuss adultery issues. It's not an aberration. And it's not just the adultery. I'm just very interested in how husbands and wives manipulate each other to get what they want. I'm just very interested in the subterfuge.
If you're in any kind of relationship, there's a lot of things that you do that may not be completely ethical to get what you want. And so yeah, I'm interested in exploring that as well.
De la Canal: This also makes me think of a question that our newsroom received from a listener several years ago when we were doing this series called 'FAQ City,' and I think it was a woman who asked, 'How can I be a responsible gentrifier?' And I think about this a lot, and I think that there are many people in Charlotte who wrestle with this. Is it possible to ethically move into one of these big new homes in an older neighborhood, and how would you do it?
Alexander: Well, I would preserve the trees, OK? I mean that's what I would do. I would — if you have a big, beautiful tree, work around it. It saddens me because I see it everywhere, and it's not just a Charlotte problem.
De la Canal: On the flip side, do you think that this play has a message for people who live next to these big homes?
Alexander: Wow, that's a really good question. I would say get to know your neighbors, get to know them as people, and if you have a conflict, please do not take it to the extreme that the couples in this play take it to. Yeah, I would definitely suggest not doing that.
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The event: "Sex, Lies, and a Sycamore Tree" presented by Hot Mess Productions
The time: Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m., July 24 - Aug. 3
The place: Charlotte's Off-Broadway Black Box Theatre, 731 N. College St.
The cost: Starting at $15.14
