Author Archives: robbucher

Director Richard Zenk is seeking two actors for the upcoming production of TRIBES at CenterStage Players on March 23-31, 2018. Auditions are by appointment through Oct. 31, 2017.

Billy (stage age 20-30) – deaf since birth. Brought up Oral. Wears hearing aids. He meets Sylvia who teaches him to sign, opening him up to the world he never knew before. Sheltered, considerate, a gentle spirit.

Sylvia (stage age 20-30) – 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 and the piano a plus.

TRIBES is the story of Billy, the only deaf member of a loving yet comically dysfunctional British-Jewish family living in London. Along with Daniel, his depressive older brother and Ruth, his cosmically adrift older sister, Billy lives with his parents, Christopher and Beth, in their cluttered and yet comfortingly worn-in home. None of the family’s (Generation Y) children seem to be certain of the next step: Daniel attempts to write his thesis, Ruth half-heartedly tries to procure opera gigs, and Billy makes frustrating attempts to reintegrate himself into family life after having been away at University. Billy’s world is opened up, however, when he encounter’s Sylvia, a young woman who has grown up as the only hearing member of a deaf family. He quickly realizes how sheltered from the deaf world he has been by his family, and how, in their attempts to avoid making him feel like an “other,” they have actually made it impossible for him to take pride in his deafness. Much to his father’s chagrin, Sylvia begins teaching Billy sign language and introducing him to the deaf community. As he grapples with his own identity, we, too, are forced to ask questions about the meaning of belonging, community, and family.