Parsons 1

Sierra Parsons
THEA 160
Prof. Michael Chemers
May 1st, 2014
A Review of Nina Raines Tribes at Berkeley Rep:
Communication, Understanding, and Belonging
Driving to Berkeley Rep Theatre from Santa Cruz in the pouring rain
and sitting in resulting traffic on the I-880 gave me ample time to mull over
a question that is frequently asked of me as an academic and a theatre
artist: Why theatre, why now? Although the answer is signified to me daily,
and I can feel it in my core, it is increasingly difficult to verbalize what
exactly the signifier is. I wondered if this production of Tribes by Nina
Raine, directed by Johnathan Moscone would give me some vocabulary to
express not only why this particular play is being produced now, but
perhaps why I continue to regard theatre as the greatest of all art forms.
I arrived at the theatre and picked up my ticket. The lobby was
packed, and I noticed most of the audience was much older than me. They
looked tired, exhausted from traveling in the rain and from their own
experiences, and I wondered where the young artists and students my age
were; where were the excited, hungry, passionate theatre goers that I
expected to see? Where was my tribe?
When I took my seat, I read an article and interview in the program
that Nina Raine gave for The Royal Court Theatre and the Steppenwolf
Theatre Company, respectively. Raine first had the idea to write Tribes after

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viewing a documentary about a pregnant deaf couple, who hoped their baby
would be deaf, too. Raine was initially shocked by this notion, but realized
that this was what countless parents feel, deaf or otherwise. They take pride
and pleasure in knowing they have managed to pass down certain qualities
to their childrenincluding genetic traits, morals, beliefs, and language. A
family is a tribe: one that constantly fights, but is deeply loyal all the same.
The documentary Nina saw was a catalyst; she began noticing tribes
everywhere around her. She was fascinated by them, repulsed by some,
envious of others. She began to think how certain signifiers, customs,
hierarchies and familial behaviors could be signified as irrational or
ridiculous to an outside member (Why I Wrote Tribes). Thus began her
descent into Tribes, an exploration of what it means to communicate,
understand and ultimately belong.
Intrinsically linked to semiotics and the act of communication, Tribes
is a play about a young man, Billy, who was born deaf into a hearing family.
His family includes his father Christopher, his mother Beth, older sister
Ruth, and older brother Dan. They are incredibly eccentric, unquestionably
politically incorrect, and raised Billy without learning sign language. With
seemingly no way out of this suffocating family unit, Billy has adapted to his
familys unconventional ways. However, theyve never returned the favor
they refuse to learn sign. Billy then meets Sylvia, a young woman, who was
born hearing into a deaf family. She is slowly becoming deaf, and it is

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through their relationship that Billy discovers his voice through becoming
silent, and begins to understand what it means to be understood.
As the lights dimmed, and the audience took their seats, I was thrust
into the cacophonous world of Billy and his family. Although the premier of
Tribes at The Royal Court Theatre in London was performed on a bare stage
with only a table and a tree to signify the garden, the mise-en scene at
Berkeley Rep was fuller, which mirrored Billys identity with his tribe. To
describe the mise-en-scene, Ill refer to the stage directions of the script
itself:
Black. In the black, the hum of an orchestra tuning up. A few
strings at first, then more and more instruments, until the whole
orchestra is alive. Just as the noise builds to its climax:
Lights up on a dinner table and family dinner in progress. Noise.
There is a piano in the room. Two chaotic and noisy
conversations mid-flow between Daniel and Beth, and Ruth and
Christopher. Billy sits eating alone in silence. (Tribes, 7)
When analyzing this through the lens of semiotics, the signifying sound of
the orchestra, the cluttered stage space of the familys home, joined with
the loud, vulgar conversations of the family, juxtaposed with Billys silence,
signifies how Billy fits into his environment. Billys silence is unmistakable:
noise surrounds him, and he is left to adapt and observe while his family
carries on, too busy to be bothered.

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Throughout the play I was constantly aware of signifiers and the
signified. Because the play is performed in British English, American Sign
Language and includes the use of projected subtitles, I was always aware of
the act of communication and language: Christopher is attempting to learn
Chinese, Ruth is a wannabe opera singer, Dan develops a stutter and has a
hard time communicating speech and feeling, and Beth is trying to translate
it allbut none of them can be bothered to learn sign language for Billy.
Sylvia is the only one who attempts to communicate with him, even though
they disagree about certain aspects of the Deaf community.
The act of communication didnt stop at language and word, however.
One particular moment that stood out to me was when Billy tears out his
hearing aids after an explosive argument with his family. Suddenly the
jarring noise of the argument is cut with a loud underwater humwhat a
deaf person might hearand the family is left mouthing passionately, albeit
silently, at Billy. On top of this underwater hum, is a projection of a swirling
bright blue light, similar to what being submerged in water might look like.
Using Peirces Model of Semiotics to understand the relationship of the
characters on stage, the object becomes the soundscape and projection, the
sign is the feeling of being underwater and the interpretan is Billy no longer
being able to understand what his family is saying, and that he has
disassociated his identity from his family tribe (Reinelt, 19). He feels he no
longer belongs. Billy attempts to follow the signs to learn to find his way in
a world where everyone needs to be heard.

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Tribes is currently being performed all over the world, and its
apparent that the central question of the play, the primary way we inherit,
create, and re-create our identities, speaks to the masses (Taccone). This
staging attempted to unify every element of production, in order to further
that central message. Every element of the play was unified. The action,
directing, and design were all linked to show how communication and
identity influence overall belonging. Tribes is ultimately about the
uncertainty and fluidity of belonging and identity. We never really know who
we are because we are always changing.
Perhaps this was the answer I was looking for all along, that this play,
and the theatre in general, provides an enigmatic space to look at our selves
through the experience of others. And more surprisingly to see ourselves
through characters whose experience may be immensely different from our
own. We dont see our literal selves, but instead are unexpectedly looking at
an echo of ourselves. We may not have the same experience but we can still
identify with that experience. Tribes was a well executed, hugely successful
attempt to explore this sense of empathy, a spark to help the audience
understand who we are, how we communicate, and whom we might belong
to.
I was emotionally and intellectually engaged with Tribes throughout
the entire performance; I was riveted: I laughed, I cried, I understood.
Throughout the two-hour performance, myself, the audience, and the actors
on stage became a tribe, dialectically and semiotically linked through the

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experience of performance. Suddenly, I knew who I was, how I
communicate, and how I belong. That is, of course, until the next play I see
asks these questions all over again.

Works Cited
Raine, Nina. "Nina Raine: Why I Wrote Tribes." Berkeley Rep Magazine
2013-2014 Issue 6: 20. Print.
Raine, Nina. Tribes. New York: Dramatist's Play Service, 2013. Print.
Reinelt, Janelle G., and Joseph R. Roach, eds. Critical Theory and
Performance. Revised and

Enlarged ed. Ann Arbor (Mich.): U of

Michigan, 2007. Print.

Taccone, Tony. Prologue from the Artistic Director. Berkeley Rep
Magazine 2013-2014 Issue

6: 5. Print.