TRIBES at the Ensemble Theatre

A wonderful show TRIBES ENSEMBLE THEATRE JUNE 2016 This play has won several awards including the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play , 2012 New York Drama Critic’s Circle Award , the 2012 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Play and it was nominated for the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best New Play .In this fresh ,dazzling production strikingly and thoughtfully directed by Susanna Dowling it invades the Ensemble stage and challenges us .It explores our universal desire to belong, to hear ,understand and to be heard .It also explores the use of language to divide or join people together and the Deaf vs Hearing worlds and the biases in each. As well the play examines the passive and aggressive forms of listening (or not listening) within an insular very intellectual family. The academic extremely educated and wordy language used in parts and the biting , witty sarcasm is in some ways perhaps similar to a Tom Stoppard or David Hare play .Others have cited Noel Coward . ( Warning - there is also lots of strong language used too). It has been slightly adapted and updated , with references to Donald trump and Queenslander jokes .Some of the first half had a few audience members crying with laughter , the second half was far more intense. Most of the play especially in Act1 takes place in a cluttered living room ,strewn with books and papers and including a piano as excellently designed by Rita Carmody .The large dining room table becomes a platform for the competitive exchange of ideas and the sort of intimate insults that in some families passes for affection. In Act1 for the big scene where we meet Sylvia and she is verbally attacked by the family, especially Christopher, the cooking smells waft deliciously . But we also see how lack of hearing can emphasize aloneness as the first act end with Billy alone while all the others listen to Sylvia’s playing. (What can she actually hear now?) Details taken for granted in most other plays assume major significance, like the classical music that is played as we enter and between scenes. ( Daryl Wallis’ sound design is crucial here ). You are grabbed by a surge of delight at first; and then remember that sensation cannot and is s not, able to be shared by everyone. Much attention is played as well to a sort of rock shaped (? ) lamp that acts as the main light fixture and at times features fizzing sparking light designs (neurons of the brain? A galaxy ?) Benjamin Brockman’s designs are terrific. The back wall becomes a screen for the ‘subtitles’ when Sylvia and Billy sign . Words are the weapons of choice in this family, a rather dysfunctional bunch of quarreling, spiky narcissists intimately depicted . Mum and Dad are Christopher (terrifically played by Sean O’Shea), an intense aloof , huffy academic critic who obsessively criticises everything , and Beth (Genevieve Lemon ), who is working on what she calls a “marriage-breakdown detective novel.” They attempt to deal awkwardly with their adult children all for the moment living at home with them - Daniel (darkly handsome Garth Holcombe ), the eldest, working on a thesis about how “language doesn’t determine meaning,” is clever, tortured and plagued by accusatory voices in his head. Ruth (beautiful , elegant ,blonde ,leggy Amber McMahon ) is sort of making a career singing opera arias in pubs and churches. As for Billy (Luke Watts ), he’s the youngest, deaf and especially at first very quiet. Everyone else more or less pretends that he is not deaf. And this creates the seeds of a rebellion that could split the family .Although he can read lips very well (he’s never been taught to sign), Billy doesn’t take much part in the snarling snappy conversation that begins the play.We feel his frustration as he misses out on lots of the conversation because he can’t hear. Simply turning on the radio, as Daniel does during an exchange of confidences with Billy, underlines the cracks in the brothers’ relationship. (Daniel does it to drown out his internal voices, but it makes Billy’s hearing aids buzz.) Daniel’s gradual decline in Act2 is startling and disturbing . Billy meets and falls in love with Sylvia,( red haired fiery Ana Maria Belo) the beautiful daughter of deaf parents, who is rapidly losing her own hearing. Her life has been spent within the deaf community, signing with skill and learning to embrace otherness rather than pretending it doesn’t exist. Interaction with her (including her teaching Billy sign language) reveals some of the languages, beliefs, and hierarchies of the family and the "extended family" of the deaf community.The resulting clash of cultures, perceptions and emotions is deeply poignant ,highly dramatic and quite thought-provoking . As Billy Watts is splendid in Act I, apparently quiet and obsequious in a subtle performance but he has a huge scene in Act2 ,defining how he chooses to communicate which reveals his hidden power. Belo as Sylvia in a fine performance puts on a brave face, pretending everything is fine with her deteriorating hearing ,until she finally lets the facade crack and reveals her true panicky feelings . Raine’s play makes us consider how we hear both in speech and silence and ends on a hopeful note of fraternal love. Running time roughly 2 hours 15 minutes including interval Tribes by Nina Raine runs at the Ensemble Theatre 1 June – 2 July PLAYWRIGHT: NINA RAINE DIRECTOR: SUSANNA DOWLING ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: JANINE WATSON DESIGNER: RITA CARMODY LIGHTING DESIGNER: BENJAMIN BROCKMAN SOUND DESIGNER: DARYL WALLIS A/V DESIGNER: TIM HOPE WARDROBE: ALANA CANCERI CAST SYLVIA ANA MARIA BELO BETH GENEVIEVE LEMON RUTH AMBER MCMAHON’ CHRISTOPHER SHAUN O’SHEA BILLY LUKE WATTS