Springfield area premiere of Tribes

(Springfield, MO) The Springfield Contemporary Theatre (SCT) presents its production of Nina Raine’s award winning Tribes at the SCT Center State, beginning August 7. The play focuses on a comically dysfunctional family, made up of parents Beth and Christopher, and three grown children living at home, Daniel, Ruth and Billy. Billy was born deaf into a hearing family that has never bothered to learn sign language.

He was raised inside its fiercely idiosyncratic and politically incorrect cocoon. He has adapted brilliantly to his family's unconventional ways, but they've never bothered to return the favor. When he meets Sylvia, a young woman on the brink of deafness, and a larger deaf community, it sparks a rebellion against his eccentric family and a struggle for self-identity and a quest to finally be understood.

Tribes opened in London in 2010, and Off-Broadway in New York in 2012. It won the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. "A smart, lively…play that asks us to hear how we hear, in silence as well as in speech." - The New York Times. "…bright and boldly provocative drama." —Associated Press.

According to a Wikipedia article, Raine came up with the idea behind Tribes after seeing a documentary about a deaf couple who were expecting a child, and they hoped their child would be deaf. “She said that it occurred to her that a family was a tribe, whose members wanted to pass on values, beliefs and language to their children. She began to see that there were ‘tribes everywhere,’ in groups including individual families and religious communities, with their own rituals and hierarchies that are hard to understand by ‘outsiders.’"

SCT’s production of Tribes is directed by Richard Dines, and features Andie Bottrell, George Cron, Eli Cunningham, Nathan Johnston, Jill Kamler and Cindy Lear.

This show contains adult language and content. All performances interpreted for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Performances are August 7-9, 14-16, and 21-23 at the SCT’s Center Stage, 431 S. Jefferson Ave, # 136, in Springfield, MO, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are available online at www.springfieldcontemporarytheatre.org, by phone at (417) 831-8001, or in person at the Center State box office. Ticket prices begin at $20.

The Gayly – August 4, 2015 @ 1:45pm.