THE STORY: Billy was born deaf into a hearing family, and he was raised inside the fiercely idiosyncratic and unrepentantly politically incorrect cocoon of his parents’ house. He has adapted brilliantly to his family’s unconventional ways, but they’ve never bothered to return the favor. It’s not until he meets Sylvia, a young woman on the brink of deafness, that he finally understands what it means to be understood.
“A smart, lively…play that asks us to hear how we hear, in silence as well as in speech.” —The New York Times.
“There’s so much going on in…TRIBES that it’s almost overwhelming: intellect and sentiment, love and cruelty, witty zingers and biting put-downs. But in Nina Raine’s dazzling play, too much is a good thing.” —New York Post.
“…bright and boldly provocative drama.” —Associated Press.
“What a pleasure it is to encounter Nina Raine’s distinctive comedy-drama TRIBES. This story of what happens to a fiercely intellectual, relentlessly competitive,'conventionally unconventional’ (as one character puts it) English family when its youngest member, the sweet-natured Billy, who is deaf, steps into his maturity is ruthlessly unsentimental and well observed.” —Backstage.
“TRIBES made me excited about New York theatre again; I haven’t been this knocked out by a play in a long time.” —New York Theatre.
