Billy has always felt like an outsider within his own family. Billy, you see, is deaf. He is also the only one who actually listens in his hopelessly dysfunctional, hilariously eccentric, fiercely argumentative tribe of bohemian weirdos.
Dad is an intellectual who behaves like a first-class idiot;
Mum is a mystery novelist who can’t solve the mystery of her own family;
Sis is a world-class opera singer in a downtown pub;
Big Brother is writing a thesis on speech while hearing voices inside his head.
And they each have very extreme, very conflicting, and very LOUD opinions on everything,
They have one thing in common: they all love Billy - sweet, sensitive, silent Billy.
But when Billy falls in love with a real “outsider”, Sylvia, something happens to him, and he decides he finally wants to be heard - what he has to say is going to be ear shattering and heart breaking. And nothing’s ever going to be the same for this family again.
With hilarious dialogue, outrageous characters and a powerfully heartwarming story, Tribes is a unique comic drama about belonging, new beginnings, and the complexities of communicating with the ones you love within your own tribe, proving that when it comes to family, actions really do speak much louder than words…
Tribes was nominated for the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for ‘Best Play’ and Winner of the 2012 Drama Desk Awards for ‘Outstanding Play’, the New York Theatre Critics Circle Award, and the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for ‘Best Play’.
