People's thoughts on Tribes

[winston89]

I was just wondering what people thought about Tribes? I have read the summary, seems interesting and it is on TDF. But, prior to buying a ticket I wanted to see what people thought about it.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Without going into too much detail, I would highly recommend it. It's one of the best shows I've seen this year and has one of the most top-flight casts going right now (that I'm aware of). It's challenging, at times thrilling, and frustrating in a good way. It's been at the top of my recommendations list since I saw it, and I'm so pleased it's gotten so well-extended into next year.

[macnyc]

Have there been any cast changes, that you know of?

[themysteriousgrowl]

I hadn't kept up since seeing the show, but I had assumed the entire cast stayed intact. A quick Googling reveals that Jeff Still replaced Jeff Perry at the beginning of last month.

But the rest of the cast remains. And while Jeff Perry really was terrific, for me the two major standouts were Susan Pourfar and Will Brill. They together are worth the ticket price alone.

[aaronb]

It's a great show, one of the best of the season. I wrote a review of it here: http://scribicide.com/2012/03/30/tribes-quite-personal-and-quite-loud/

[vegas2]

I thought it was intelligent, thought-provoking, well-written, and well-performed.

[Jordan Catalano]

I hope they have another interpreted performance, soon. A lot of my deaf friends missed it the first time and really want to see it!

[themysteriousgrowl]

Jordan, I haven't checked the Website in awhile, but at some point I got the impression it was a regular thing. Have you checked with the theater?

[Jordan Catalano]

I checked the interpreting company's website and they just had two dates in May.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Wow. Given the content, that is DUMBASSHIT.

I wonder how they'd respond to a request expressing significant interest.

[themysteriousgrowl]

The BST, I mean.

[broadwayjim42]

I saw it last night and agree with Growl about Will and Susan's performances. But really, the whole cast is pretty impeccable.

[RippedMan]

I saw it tonight. I liked it a lot. It was interesting and thought-provoking without being super obvious. I thought the themes were new and interesting. Instead of this idea of gay people being lesser human beings, we are now talking about deaf people. I thought it was an interesting take on a group of people not a lot of know about. I thought the direction was really great, and the use of the space brilliant. Top notch casting.

[mikem]

Susan Pourfar is leaving the show in Sept -- her replacement starts Sept 25. And this is the final week for the other two women. There was a Playbill.com article about it.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Oh, man, I was really hoping to catch it again with that cast.

Have their replacements been announced? I just did a quick Googling and didn't turn any info up.

[macnyc]

Tribes has been on my list to see, but I've been hesitating because a few people have commented that it's hard to understand some of the dialogue. I'm afraid that would frustrate me. Has anyone had this problem?

[themysteriousgrowl]

Can you be more specific?

There are times when the staging deliberately obscures conversations or pieces of conversations -- in my assumption, to give the audience the experience of the exclusion and disorientation of the main character, who is deaf.

The actor who plays the main character is also deaf -- deaf from birth, I believe -- and so his diction and pattern of speech is markedly difference from the hearing actors in the play. Admittedly, I may have missed the odd word here or there, but definitely nothing that impeded my comprehension and definitely nothing that a little bit of focus and concentration couldn't fix.

However, I'd also suggest that if either of these things are enough to make you hesitant to see this play, then perhaps this play is not for you.

[macnyc]

I think I read that the English accents can be a problem at times (and I guess the actors are American?).

[themysteriousgrowl]

Hmm... that's very surprising. I obviously can't speak to other people's experiences. Maybe some are having trouble with the accents. They're not heavy or dialect-y -- to my memory, pretty straightforward upper-middle-class London across the board, like a lot of run-of-the-mill English characters we see on American TV and in American movies. It took me longer to acclimate to the accents in JERUSALEM and ONCE than TRIBES.

[macnyc]

It's been on TDF off and on, so I do plan on seeing it.

[Kad]

I highly recommend it. It was probably the best new play of the last season, and it's a very provocative, thoughtful, and daring piece.

[gravity87]

Caught this earlier this week. It's a beautiful, challenging and thought provoking play. Was reluctant going in but by the end I loved it. Best thing I've seen this year. GO!

[RippedMan]

I think some of the dialogue is missed primarily because the family is always arguing so there's a lot of overlap. But it's not the kind of play where you need to hear every word to piece things together. You'll hear all the important things. And there are subtitles for most of the "deaf" stuff. It's great. If you're scared about it, go see it.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Extraordinary. As someone who is going deaf in one ear (doctor diagnosed, will only get worse), I related a lot. Susan Pourfar is heart-breaking.

I loved it. Had a very ugly cry. Not sure I could see it again because of that, but I'd highly recommend it.

[themysteriousgrowl]

This is all way too positive.

Can we get some After Eight in this thread pointing out that the unlikable characters are unlikable?

[jakebloke]

Agreed, Tribes is definitely worth seeing and Susan Pourfar is quite brilliant in the show. As an audiologist, I could relate perhaps on a different level, but I think most people can relate on the general themes of language and communication.