Red Turnip’s silent treatment

By Camille Anne M. Arcilla

Theater
Tribes
Presented by Red Turnip
Directed by Topper Fabregas
Aug. 4 to Sept. 4
Power Mac Center Spotlight, Circuit Lane, Circuit Makati, A.P. Reyes Ave., Brgy. Carmona, Makati City

“IF YOU can’t speak, how loud is your voice?”

Red Turnip Theater kicks off its fourth season with a bang — and a bit of silence — with offbeat comedy-drama Tribes, which tackles the story of a deaf man trying to find his place in the world while dealing with his loquacious anti-sign language family.

Tribes director Topper Fabregas said the play is a funny portrayal of how one family navigates the fact that their son, Billy, is deaf. His unconventional family has tried to raise him as part of the hearing world and neglected to adopt sign language in their home.

“Tribes follows Billy’s attempt to be part of many worlds at once — his family’s, Sylvia’s (his hearing friend who is becoming deaf), and the Deaf community, all while striving to find his own identity,” Mr. Fabregas said in an e-mail interview with ����ý. “As he grapples with his own identity, we, too, are forced to ask questions about the meaning of belonging, community, and family.”

The story was written by English theater director and playwright Nina Raine, who got the idea after watching a documentary about a deaf couple. The woman was pregnant and the couple wanted their baby to be deaf as well.

“I was struck by the thought that this was actually what many people feel, deaf or otherwise. Parents take great pleasure in witnessing the qualities they have managed to pass on to their children. Not only a set of genes. A set of values, beliefs. Even a particular language. The family is a tribe: an infighting tribe but intensely loyal,” she wrote on the .

She added that she wrote the play with no idea of the characters’ names, or of how many siblings were there.

“But oddly, it is one of the scenes that has hardly changed during the writing of the play. It sat there for a very long time. And then, slowly, I wrote the rest. The crazy family was born fully formed. I just had to work out what happened to them,” she said in the article.

For Red Turnip’s production, Mr. Fabregas said during the press launch on June 21 that 40% of the show would be subtitled because the productionhe will use a lot of sign language. In addition, the theater company is planning to stage special shows for the deaf community soon.

The cast includes Teroy Guzman, Kalil Almonte, Angela Padilla, Cris Pasturan, Dolly de Leon, and Thea Ystaroza.

“Expect to be entertained, moved, inspired, and provoked. Red Turnip Theater prides itself in delivering more than just shows. They are experiences you share in our unique, intimate space,” he said. “You come in and witness a story come to life, or maybe your life in one of our stories. We hope you laugh, we apologize if you cry. Make sure you have a drink (or two). Ultimately, our theater will somehow change you.”

Tickets are available at (891-999) or e-mail [email protected].