In the opening moments of Nina Raine’s provocative play about the human need to be heard, the audience is plunged into blackness and enveloped by classical music. It’s a resetting moment for the senses, encouraging a deep tune-in.
* * * ½ drama
There’s plenty to absorb, much that resonates for days. The story of a dysfunctional family, with an over-educated, arrogant father lording it over his wife and three adult children, “Tribes” underscores how we fail to communicate, fail to listen, fail to hear. Particularly within families.
The central metaphor is the deafness of youngest son Billy (Tad Cooley), who has been given no special consideration by the family, in the parents’ high-minded but misguided attempt to raise him no differently than anyone else. In fact, these narcissists have disabled Billy by refusing to teach him sign language, refusing to let him explore the deaf community, declining to let him join his tribe.
(who is deaf) is riveting as Billy, beginning with his back to the audience as the family wage intellectual dinner table arguments. Billy reads lips but doesn’t engage in the wordy debates. He attempts to fit back into the family after being away at school, but is routinely discounted.
Billy’s siblings are slackers: Ruth (Isabel Ellison) is an aspiring opera singer, and Daniel (Andrew Pastides) is a depressive working a thesis about how “language doesn’t determine meaning.” None of the three have held a job.
“Why am I surrounded by my children again?” bellows the academic, bullying Christopher (Stephen Paul Johnson). By making his dependents emotionally dependent on him, he has contributed to their being stuck. Christopher is bothering to learn Chinese but won’t go near American Sign Language to communicate with his son.
Meanwhile, his wife Beth (Kathleen McCall) flits around the house, supposedly writing a “marriage-breakdown detective novel.”
They talk, talk, talk, but meaning is obscured by constant oneupsmanship.
Billy’s world is closing in on him, until he meets Sylvia ( ), a woman raised by deaf parents, who herself is going deaf. Sylvia teaches Billy sign language and introduces him to the “deaf community” — a phrase beneath contempt to dad Christopher. (Finch, who is fluent in sign language, brings a special grace to the part.)
Pointed use of sound throughout, designed by Craig Breitenbach, adds to the experience. A beautiful aria melts into a roar, to suggest how music is increasingly heard/not heard by different individuals. Billy and Daniel argue over the radio: Daniel wants it turned up to drown out the voices increasingly railing in his head; Billy wants it off as it conflicts with his hearing aid.
In addition to classical music punctuating the scenes, written bits of translations of sign language are projected on walls, enabling non-signers to eavesdrop. In a particularly moving display, the family gathers at the piano while Sylvia plays Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” and the moods of the piece are painted in colored lights, first on keyboard-like flats, then across the entire set. As Sylvia is losing her ability to hear the notes, we gain access to her internal appreciation of the music. Credit Charlie Miller with smart, subtle projection design that adds to the emotional charge.
The acting is superb all around, including sustained British accents. Taut direction by Stephen Weitz makes for a moving, funny, heartbreaking journey.
Raine’s plot holds surprises on the way to a satisfying ending in a truly transporting play ( winner) — that’s psychologically minded but not overly intellectual.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or @ostrowdp
“TRIBES” By Nina Raine. Directed by Stephen Weitz. Featuring Stephen Paul Johnson, Kathleen McCall, Isabel Ellison, Andrew Pastides, Tad Cooley and Kate Finch. Through Nov. 15 in the Ricketson Theatre, DCPA, Tue.-Thu., Sun. evening 6:30 p.m. Friday & Saturday 7:30 p.m. Sat. & Sun. matinee 1:30 p.m. Tickets start at $41, call 303.893.4100 or buy online at . American Sign Language Interpretation/audio described performances Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m. and Nov. 7 at 1:30 p.m.
