NTID Theatre History: Tribes: February 2016

The College of Liberal Arts Performing Arts Program and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf’s Performing Arts Program at Rochester Institute of Technology presented Tribes, a comedy-drama centered on the tensions that emerged when a young man introduced his deaf girlfriend to his hearing family.

Written by Nina Raine and directed by Jerry Argetsinger, Tribes explored the meaning of embracing deaf identity through the character of Billy, a deaf man raised in an intellectual, eccentric, and often politically incorrect hearing household. Although Billy adjusted to his family’s unconventional environment, the same consideration was never shown in return. His life shifted dramatically when he met a deaf woman who valued sign language and Deaf culture—an idea that deeply unsettled his father.

Argetsinger described Tribes as one of the most significant works addressing misunderstandings between hearing and Deaf communities since Children of a Lesser God. The production offered an engaging, thought-provoking experience and contributed meaningfully to ongoing conversations about diversity and inclusion.