BWW Preview: The Unicorn Theatre Presents TRIBES

The Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri presents Tribes by Nina Raine June 3 through June 28 on the Levin Stage located at 3828 Main. Theodore Swetz directs the Unicorn Theatre production of Tribes, which features David Fritts, Jan Rogge, Nicole Marie Green, Jake Walker, Paul Ososki, and Lisa Lehnen.

Tribes appeared Off-Broadway in 2012, closing in 2013 after receiving two extensions. In 2010, Nina Raine said her inspiration came after saw a documentary about a deaf couple expecting a child and they hoped the child would be deaf. It occurred to her that the members of the family was a tribe, wanting to pass on values, beliefs, and language to their children. She saw tribes everywhere, families, groups, religious communities, all with their own values that are hard to understand by those not in the community. Tribes won the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play.

Tribes is a British drama about Billy, who was born deaf into a comically dysfunctional, hearing family that has never bothered to learn sign language. When he meets a girl on the brink of deafness and a larger deaf community, it sparks a rebellion against his eccentric family and a struggle for self-identity. Due to adult subject matter and language, Tribes is suggested for ages 16 and up.

John Lahr of The New Yorker highlights the thematic complexity surrounding the issues of the deaf community in conflict with hearing families: "Raine shrewdly builds [a] dense canopy of sound around Billy's silence, in order to make the narrative of his oppressive solitude and his subsequent liberation from it more than just a problem play about the hearing-impaired. Tribes is as much about the tyranny of language as it is about the misery of not being able to hear it."

"A smart, lively...play that asks us to hear how we hear, in silence as well as in speech" - Ben Brantley, NY Times.

"There's so much going on in...Tribes that it's almost overwhelming: intellect and sentiment, love and cruelty, witty zingers and biting put-downs. But in Nina Raine's dazzling play, too much is a good thing" - Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post.

Paul Ososki stars as the hearing impaired Billy. Ososki himself hearing impaired stars in his first leading role in Tribes. Ososki is a kindergarten teacher at the Kansas School for the Deaf in Olathe, Kansas he uses acting to help his students learn. Lisa Lehnen as Sylvia, who makes her debut at the Unicorn and currently is a community interpreter in the Kansas City region, joins him on stage.

Tuesday and Wednesday performances of Tribes is Pay What U Can, because art is for everyone. American Sign Language interpreted performance are scheduled for June 12 and 14. Purchase tickets by calling the box office at 816-531-7529 extension 10 or visit the Unicorn Theatre website. Photo by Cynthia Levin is courtesy of the Unicorn Theatre.

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