Yearly Archives: 2017

Centerstage Players and director Richard Zenk  announce auditions for TRIBES by Nina Raine at CenterStage Players in Lockland.

Audition Dates/Times: November 14th at 6:30pm.

Location: Lockland High School, 249 W Forrer, Cincinnati, OH 45215 – Park in the back parking lot and climb the stairs at door #10​.

Rehearsals: January 21 – March 22, 2018

Performance Dates: ​March 23-25 and 29-31, 2018 ​

Audition process:

1. Complete and save the fillable PDF audition at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdZGFQM_PHkaYvOWclI1WD_6wS8AXux2Kp22DcXLOpA2qyBVw/viewform?usp=sf_link.

2. Further information on the audition process will be emailed to those who send an audition form.

Synopsis
The play focuses on a comically dysfunctional family, made up of the parents Beth and Christopher and three grown children living at home, Daniel, Ruth and Billy, the last of whom is deaf, raised to read lips and speak but without knowledge of sign language. When Billy meets Sylvia, a hearing woman born to deaf parents who is now slowly going deaf herself, his interaction with her (including her teaching him sign language) reveals some of the languages, beliefs, and hierarchies of the family and the “extended family” of the deaf community.

Characters

• Billy (20-30) is deaf since birth. Brought up Oral. Wears hearing aids. He meets Sylvia who teaches him to sign, opening him up to a world he never knew before. He is sheltered, considerate, and a gentle spirit.

• Sylvia (20-30) was born with hearing but now rapidly going deaf. While she hasn’t wanted to let someone in, she falls for Billy. While Billy might see her as a vibrant new light in his life, the rest of the family sees her as “nice and funny”. Experience with ASL is a requirement and experience with the piano is a plus.

• Daniel (25-35) is Billy and Ruth’s brother, a pothead, emotional, and uncomfortable with change. He has always defined himself in reference to being Billy’s big brother. Once Billy starts to find himself, Daniel is unable to cope with the loss and his depression and childhood stutter return.

• Christopher (50-65) is Billy, Ruth and Daniel’s father. He would probably like to think of himself as liberal or at the very least “open-minded”, but in reality things are very black and white to him. He’s a writer and an academic. He loves his children, but wants all of them to be things they aren’t. He has spurned the deaf community.

• Beth (50-60) is the wife of Christopher and mother to Billy, Ruth & Daniel. She is sensitive and empathetic to the complexities of her children’s lives, but oblivious to the real issues. She enjoys having adult children whom she can relate to, but she could have possibly always treated them as adults. She is attempting to redefine herself as a mystery writer.

• Ruth (25-35) is Billy’s older sister. Like the rest of her family, she is struggling with self-identity. She is a typical middle child and is self-aware; perhaps the most self-aware of the entire family (in a way only a 20-something can be). At present she thinks of herself as an opera singer.