Tribes by Pangdemonium

tribe

trʌɪb/

noun

plural noun: tribes

1. 1.

   a social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader.

SATURDAY - I caught a play Tribes with Martin at the Drama Centre Theatre. After a night of digestion and reading several commentaries online, I have to say that the play's a solid piece both in writing and delivery. 

Here's a rough synopsis: The family. Loud, argumentative, and crass. Billy, the protagonist, is deaf and brought up to be 'normal' by his family. Having returned home after university, Billy now struggles to fit in to the family. Language, or lack there of, is a problem. As it is with listening and hearing, and listening versus hearing. Billy meets Slyvia, a girl who's turning deaf, and he learns Sign Language. He believes this is the liberation he has been waiting for - a language that he can fully express himself with, and someone (Slyvia) that finally listens and understands him. Tension arose when Billy opens to the family and says that he is not talking to them until they learn Sign Language for him and that he is leaving them for Slyvia. 

My first impression of the play was it's a cliche. The topic mainly revolved around family and communication. I thought that if I were a teenager that's still undergoing my rebellious stage, I'd probably liked this play a lot more because of its argumentative nature and touchiness of the topics e.g. feelings of belonging and importance in a family (tribe). So I guess the inability to relate to this sector, which was a major part of the play, was a main factor I didn't quite enjoy the play initially. However, I did think I learnt a lot about the deaf community given that I've never given much thought about this part of the community. 

Anyway, after reading the playwright's intent for the script, I felt that this play was indeed a brilliant act. For me personally, I love figuring out the nuances of scripts and the action of plays. I love leaving the theatre in bewilderment or having that 'mindfucked' moment because this is the kind of thrill and satisfaction I seek from theatre. When watching Tribes, I thought the central message was clear and apparent, and I paid little attention to the details albeit observing them. After some reading online though, I'm starting to get a deeper picture and I absolutely love this part about understanding plays. (even if it's with a bit of cheating by reading online) 

First off, the title Tribes is apt. A family, filled with its own customs and ways is very much a tribe, just as it is with different groups in the community such as the deaf in the play. Hierarchy was also depicted. The leader of the family, the father, was always finding fault with everyone in the family and no one outside the family is 'ever good enough'. There's discrimination in the deaf community too, in terms of people born deaf or turned deaf. 

Language was a point of contention. The father disparaged Sign Language, whilst Billy felt that actions speak louder than words. Though it seemed very much like a typical family argument, there were also points to take home and I thought this was a line worth pondering upon - Do feelings mean any lesser if it can't be put into words? 

And while Billy envied Slyvia for her abilities to mingle with the deaf community because she was fluent in Sign, Slyvia began showing us the ugly parts of turning deaf. She was tired of faking smiles and optimism. This is relatable in life. The grass is always greener on the other side. We sometimes try hard to fit into a certain group or conform to society, only to realize we're losing our own identities and taking on a fake persona. 

Billy's elder brother, Daniel, was an interesting figure. In the first act Dan was loud, cursing and annoying. But as the play unravelled and as Billy sought independence and a voice of his own, Dan began wilting. He stammered and he hunched. Billy was his pillar of strength and without him, Dan was losing himself. 

I thought that Sign Language was a unique point about the play and because of this, there were more techniques used as compared to normal plays. Subtext is an example and I liked how the words projected conflicted with what the actors were saying at times - very much like us in reality. In essence, Tribes was a good watch and I'm beginning to really enjoy watching Pangdemonium's productions. This is the second play that I've caught and I'm dying to watch the last play of their season Chinglish except I can't because I'll be in China.