Dysfunction Junction

Dysfunctional families seem to be the theme of this summer's fare at Barrington Stage. In Kimberly Akimbo a family must cope with a daughter who has the Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome which causes a young person to age rapidly, often ending in their death during their teens. In Presto Change-O  family of jugglers has strong feelings of jealousy, and in American Son an inter-racial divorced couple must try to come to terms with their son who is torn between his up-bringing in the white world and his desire to fit into the black world, finally being shot by the police.

Well, you get the idea.

Last night David and I saw Tribes, an award winning play by Nina Raine. This family is being torn apart by a father and mother who have raised one son who is deaf but is not taught to sign because the father thinks that will make him a weak person,a second son who hears voices and stutters, and a daughter, whose only problem seems to be that she can't find a man.

   Joshua Castille
The deaf son is, however, an expert lip-reader. He meets a young woman whose parents are both deaf. She is going deaf and can sign fluently but does not lip read. They have trouble communicating at first but fall in love.

   Miles G. Jackson
When she is introduced to his family his father makes an argument about the uselessness of signing and gets things off to a bad start. Things begin to fall apart including the relationship of the young couple.

   C. David Johnson
At the end, the second brother, who is the only one in the family to try to learn to sign, signs that he loves his brother. They embrace as the curtain falls. Or actually as the lights go off.

   Deirdre Madigan
Other than that.

  Eli Pauley
The cast featured Joshua Castille, Miles G. Jackson, C. David Johnson, Deirdre Madigan, Eli Pauley, and Justine Salata. There were three people signing the drama in last night's performance which was an ASL performance. One section of the theatre was reserved for hard of hearing people and the three interpreters, Candace Broecker Penn, Chris Matthews, and Joan Wattman signed the entire play for them.

    Justine Salata
A most unusual evening.

I felt the first act was much stronger than the second act which turned into a series of short vignettes bringing the play to its dramatic conclusion. Perhaps this should have been a three act play to give more time to develop these brief, emotional moments. 

This was certainly an most unusual night in the theatre.