Stage 2’s performance of Tribes opened Thursday, October 15th at the Dudley Experimental Theatre in the University of Minnesota Duluth. Tribes is a rather amusing play about the sensitive subject of deafness. It follows a boy named Billy (Bud Gibson) and his struggle with family and relationship issues colliding with the fact that he is deaf. The performance consists of both comedy and a sense of seriousness that aims to tug at the hearts of the audience.
The performance that Stage 2 put on was remarkable. The characters were witty, and their many arguments were amusing. During the arguments, the actors often had to speak quite quickly, bouncing between each other with witty comments. They did an astounding job swiftly delivering these lines and portraying their characters’ unique personalities. Being that the origin of the play is in England, the play’s humor was very dry and sarcastic, which the actors played out extremely well. The English accents that the actors used were also quite impressive.
Apart from the humorous banter, Tribes also offered a more serious aspect. The audience watched as, during the more serious arguments between Billy’s family, Billy sat back, confused as to what was wrong between his family members because he couldn’t hear what was being said. Gibson did an excellent job conveying Billy’s frustration and confusion to the audience. Billy rarely said much about how he felt, but his silent, blank stare amongst the angry expressions and loud voices of his family spoke volumes.
Billy also develops a relationship throughout the play with a girl named Silvia (Lauren Hugh). Throughout the performance, Silvia is going deaf. At first, this brings Gibson and Hugh’s characters together, but as Silvia’s hearing gets worse and worse their relationship struggles. The conflict between the two is sometimes spoken and sometimes signed in American Sign Language, which was an interesting way to show how the connection that these two have is also tearing them apart.
Overall, Stage 2’s performance of Tribes was outstanding. The performance quality was very impressive and the many different aspects of this play were portrayed extremely well. The director, Chelsea Campbell, did an amazing job leading this performance.
Last weekend, UMD’s Stage 2 theatre group did the play Tribes by Nina Raine. In this comedic yet moving play, we watch as the main character Billy, played by Bud Gibson, navigates the complicated worlds of family and romance without his hearing. This play gives insight into not only the lives of the deaf, but the lives of those who feel left out.
Billy’s family is over the top and loud, constantly arguing and throwing clever insults at each other. However, as the only deaf one in the family, Billy often feels lost and confused. His family never taught him sign language, so he must rely on lip reading. The audience begins to notice how difficult this must be for him, as the rest of the family is constantly moving around and speaking in the other direction, causing him to miss many parts of the conversation. We often see Billy sitting quietly in the middle of all the yelling, representing his loneliness in the house.
When Billy meets Sylvia (Lauren Hugh), a girl who is slowly going deaf, he learns sign language. This gives him a whole new way to communicate- and gives the audience a better understanding of what he is feeling. Sylvia not only becomes his love interest, but someone he can truly be himself with instead of feeling so alone. The director, Chelsea Campbell, used projections of the words they are signing up on a big screen above them. This was a very creative way to show the audience what they are talking about.
Throughout the play, we also find out that Billy is not the only one struggling to fit in with the family. His older brother Daniel (Thomas McDanel) is dealing with schizophrenia and couldn’t make it on his own. His parents are having marital issues and his mother is writing a book to cope with it. Each of the family member’s personal problems are pushing them away from each other, when what they really need is to come together.
Overall, this play combined comedy and tragedy quite effectively to represent what life is really like. We all have our ups and downs, just like the characters in this play. The acting was very well done, including their British accents. By the end of the play, the audience really felt a connection with them and their stories. We learn many surprises about them, and gain more sympathy. The play showed a truthful side of life that we rarely see in media.
“Tribes” was an interesting play that conveyed the interaction of two societies. One being the deaf community and the other being the hearing community. The play conveys a certain family where one of the children is completely deaf and has been deaf since childbirth, the family wants to care for Billy and they don’t want him exposed to the rest of the deaf world. Silvia came into the picture and she appears to be one of the deaf community but she isn’t but we find out that she soon will be when she explains that she is losing her hearing. Throughout the show the playwrite is conveying the struggles when having a deaf child in a hearing family. The play starts off with the family sitting at the dinner having a heated conversation about their days. First thing noticed is that they aren’t the perfect family where everybody sits and asks if they can pass the corn or ask anyone if they want more. It is clear that the family pushes for where they are in position to the others in the family. The conversation goes on and Billy gets lost and you can hear the deaf accent in his voice. The play goes on and Silvia is introduced to the audience. She comes to Billy using all sign language. The sign language in the play wasn’t done by people who were fluent in sign language but the fact of the matter is that if you weren’t fluent in sign you wouldn’t have noticed. Billy and Silvia fall in love at first sight and Silvia pushes for Billy to embrace his hearing abilities. The family finds out about Billy learning sign and they freak out. Silvia seems to be that girl who cares about all the other people in the world and she wants them to fit in with everyone else. This fact is made clear when Silvia teaches Billy sign. She wants Billy to be able to communicate with others without having to focus so much on their lips. Tribes evoked feelings in one that they don’t feel on a usual basis. It showed the power of a family to those who have none. It displayed the two cultural differences that can exploit every person in the play. It told the struggle of the deaf community having to be the minority to the hearing community as a whole and trying to fit in and communicate with them.
Stage 2’s performance of Tribes opened Thursday, October 15th at the Dudley Experimental Theatre in the University of Minnesota Duluth. Tribes is a rather amusing play about the sensitive subject of deafness. It follows a boy named Billy (Bud Gibson) and his struggle with family and relationship issues colliding with the fact that he is deaf. The performance consists of both comedy and a sense of seriousness that aims to tug at the hearts of the audience.
ReplyDeleteThe performance that Stage 2 put on was remarkable. The characters were witty, and their many arguments were amusing. During the arguments, the actors often had to speak quite quickly, bouncing between each other with witty comments. They did an astounding job swiftly delivering these lines and portraying their characters’ unique personalities. Being that the origin of the play is in England, the play’s humor was very dry and sarcastic, which the actors played out extremely well. The English accents that the actors used were also quite impressive.
Apart from the humorous banter, Tribes also offered a more serious aspect. The audience watched as, during the more serious arguments between Billy’s family, Billy sat back, confused as to what was wrong between his family members because he couldn’t hear what was being said. Gibson did an excellent job conveying Billy’s frustration and confusion to the audience. Billy rarely said much about how he felt, but his silent, blank stare amongst the angry expressions and loud voices of his family spoke volumes.
Billy also develops a relationship throughout the play with a girl named Silvia (Lauren Hugh). Throughout the performance, Silvia is going deaf. At first, this brings Gibson and Hugh’s characters together, but as Silvia’s hearing gets worse and worse their relationship struggles. The conflict between the two is sometimes spoken and sometimes signed in American Sign Language, which was an interesting way to show how the connection that these two have is also tearing them apart.
Overall, Stage 2’s performance of Tribes was outstanding. The performance quality was very impressive and the many different aspects of this play were portrayed extremely well. The director, Chelsea Campbell, did an amazing job leading this performance.
Last weekend, UMD’s Stage 2 theatre group did the play Tribes by Nina Raine. In this comedic yet moving play, we watch as the main character Billy, played by Bud Gibson, navigates the complicated worlds of family and romance without his hearing. This play gives insight into not only the lives of the deaf, but the lives of those who feel left out.
ReplyDeleteBilly’s family is over the top and loud, constantly arguing and throwing clever insults at each other. However, as the only deaf one in the family, Billy often feels lost and confused. His family never taught him sign language, so he must rely on lip reading. The audience begins to notice how difficult this must be for him, as the rest of the family is constantly moving around and speaking in the other direction, causing him to miss many parts of the conversation. We often see Billy sitting quietly in the middle of all the yelling, representing his loneliness in the house.
When Billy meets Sylvia (Lauren Hugh), a girl who is slowly going deaf, he learns sign language. This gives him a whole new way to communicate- and gives the audience a better understanding of what he is feeling. Sylvia not only becomes his love interest, but someone he can truly be himself with instead of feeling so alone. The director, Chelsea Campbell, used projections of the words they are signing up on a big screen above them. This was a very creative way to show the audience what they are talking about.
Throughout the play, we also find out that Billy is not the only one struggling to fit in with the family. His older brother Daniel (Thomas McDanel) is dealing with schizophrenia and couldn’t make it on his own. His parents are having marital issues and his mother is writing a book to cope with it. Each of the family member’s personal problems are pushing them away from each other, when what they really need is to come together.
Overall, this play combined comedy and tragedy quite effectively to represent what life is really like. We all have our ups and downs, just like the characters in this play. The acting was very well done, including their British accents. By the end of the play, the audience really felt a connection with them and their stories. We learn many surprises about them, and gain more sympathy. The play showed a truthful side of life that we rarely see in media.
“Tribes” was an interesting play that conveyed the interaction of two societies. One being the deaf community and the other being the hearing community. The play conveys a certain family where one of the children is completely deaf and has been deaf since childbirth, the family wants to care for Billy and they don’t want him exposed to the rest of the deaf world. Silvia came into the picture and she appears to be one of the deaf community but she isn’t but we find out that she soon will be when she explains that she is losing her hearing. Throughout the show the playwrite is conveying the struggles when having a deaf child in a hearing family.
ReplyDeleteThe play starts off with the family sitting at the dinner having a heated conversation about their days. First thing noticed is that they aren’t the perfect family where everybody sits and asks if they can pass the corn or ask anyone if they want more. It is clear that the family pushes for where they are in position to the others in the family. The conversation goes on and Billy gets lost and you can hear the deaf accent in his voice. The play goes on and Silvia is introduced to the audience. She comes to Billy using all sign language. The sign language in the play wasn’t done by people who were fluent in sign language but the fact of the matter is that if you weren’t fluent in sign you wouldn’t have noticed. Billy and Silvia fall in love at first sight and Silvia pushes for Billy to embrace his hearing abilities. The family finds out about Billy learning sign and they freak out. Silvia seems to be that girl who cares about all the other people in the world and she wants them to fit in with everyone else. This fact is made clear when Silvia teaches Billy sign. She wants Billy to be able to communicate with others without having to focus so much on their lips.
Tribes evoked feelings in one that they don’t feel on a usual basis. It showed the power of a family to those who have none. It displayed the two cultural differences that can exploit every person in the play. It told the struggle of the deaf community having to be the minority to the hearing community as a whole and trying to fit in and communicate with them.