{"id":1968326,"date":"2025-08-19T10:30:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T10:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1968326"},"modified":"2025-08-19T10:30:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T10:30:07","slug":"at-apt-tribes-closes-ranks-around-family-dysfunction-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/at-apt-tribes-closes-ranks-around-family-dysfunction-entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"At APT, \u2018Tribes\u2019 closes ranks around family dysfunction | Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" false=\"\">\n                                <meta itemprop=\"isAccessibleForFree\" content=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<aside class=\"tncms-inline-relcontent tncms-inline-relcontent-info tncms-inline-alignment-left tncms-inline-width-one-third\">\n<h4>\u2018Tribes\u2019<\/h4>\n<p>Through Sept. 27<\/p>\n<p>Touchstone Theatre, American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Road, Spring Green<\/p>\n<p>$76-$114<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/americanplayers.org\/plays\/tribes\">americanplayers.org\/plays\/tribes<\/a>; (608) 588-2361<\/p>\n<p>Running time is 2 hours and 25 minutes with one intermission.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>There\u2019s a certain pleasure in hate-watching a character, hollering in your living room at a villain who can\u2019t hear you. Best to subdue these instincts at \u201cTribes,\u201d an infuriating (and very good) play populated by extremely punchable people.<\/p>\n<p>English playwright Nina Raine\u2019s 2010 comedic drama, onstage in American Players Theatre\u2019s indoor Touchstone space through Sept. 27, highlights the casual cruelty families do best.<\/p>\n<p>For 20-something Billy (Joshua M. Castille), born deaf into a family of hearing narcissists, the family dinner table swirls like a tornado. John Langs\u2019 hyper-specific, naturalistic direction boxes Billy out while he\u2019s in the room. How can they be so oblivious? (Am I that oblivious?)<\/p>\n<p>Billy\u2019s parents and older siblings, failed-to-launch Ruth (Maggie Cramer) and mentally struggling Daniel (Casey Hoekstra), shout conversations at and over each other. The radio blares. People walk away while talking, or speak in an undertone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJoin in! Have an argument!\u201d encourages Billy\u2019s father, Christopher (Jim DeVita), a textbook prig. Billy\u2019s wine-gulping mother Beth (Colleen Madden) treats Billy like he\u2019s simple, or a child. His brother does, too. Everyone\u2019s very funny and cutting, in that \u201cjust telling the truth\u201d way of a family where love lives a few layers down.<\/p>\n<p>When Billy meets Sylvia (Lindsay Welliver), the daughter of deaf parents who is going deaf herself, his world begins to crack open. She teaches him sign language, which his family never learned, and takes him to Deaf events.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-asset inline-image layout-vertical  subscriber-hide  tnt-inline-asset tnt-inline-relcontent tnt-inline-image tnt-inline-relation-child tnt-inline-presentation-default tnt-inline-alignment-right tnt-inline-width-half\">\n<figure class=\"photo layout-vertical hover-expand letterbox-style-white\"><span class=\"expand hidden-print\" data-toggle=\"modal\" data-photo-target=\".photo-849d02f4-3530-4115-ad7a-c9173a16da05\" data-instance=\"#gallery-items-fd46e891-0eb1-4fe2-acf0-c5cf52ed9fdf-photo-modal\" data-target=\"#photo-carousel-fd46e891-0eb1-4fe2-acf0-c5cf52ed9fdf\"><br \/>\n                <span class=\"fas tnt-expand\"\/><br \/>\n            <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image\" data-toggle=\"modal\" data-photo-target=\".photo-849d02f4-3530-4115-ad7a-c9173a16da05\" data-instance=\"#gallery-items-fd46e891-0eb1-4fe2-acf0-c5cf52ed9fdf-photo-modal\" data-target=\"#photo-carousel-fd46e891-0eb1-4fe2-acf0-c5cf52ed9fdf\">\n<div itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n            <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"1341\"\/><br \/>\n            <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1545\"\/><br \/>\n            <meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/captimes.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/8\/49\/849d02f4-3530-4115-ad7a-c9173a16da05\/68a113b50fa3a.image.jpg\"\/><br \/>\n            <meta itemprop=\"url\" content=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/captimes.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/8\/49\/849d02f4-3530-4115-ad7a-c9173a16da05\/68a113b50fa3a.image.jpg\"\/><br \/>\n                        \n            <\/div><\/div><figcaption class=\"caption\">\n<p>                                <span class=\"caption-text\"><\/p>\n<p>Sylvia (Lindsay Welliver) shows Billy (Joshua M. Castille) a sign-poem in &#8220;Tribes&#8221; at American Players Theatre. Jeanette Christensen designed the costumes, and Jason Fassl desgned the set and lighting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                                <\/span><\/p>\n<p>                                <span class=\"credit\"><br \/>\n                                    <span itemprop=\"author\" class=\"tnt-byline\">MICHAEL BROSILOW<\/span><br \/>\n                                <\/span><\/p>\n<p>                        <span class=\"clearfix\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThere was an empty place at the table, and she came and sat down in it,\u201d Billy says. \u201cI was alone, and now I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The inevitable confrontation \u2014 er, meeting \u2014 with Billy\u2019s family goes about as well as anyone expects. Dad leads the charge, firing breathtakingly insensitive questions at Sylvia (\u201cwhich is better, sign or speech?\u201d). DeVita, as Christopher, is fearlessly hateful.<\/p>\n<p>Sensing a threat, his family circles the wagons while Billy draws away. Christopher sneers at sign language but hauls out his laptop to practice Chinese, without headphones, at the kitchen table. Daniel is willing to sacrifice his brother\u2019s relationship for his own security. (Hoekstra seems to physically shrink as Daniel\u2019s psychosis worsens.)<\/p>\n<p>Ruth\u2019s reaction to Billy\u2019s success as a forensic lip-reader is dismay. \u201cWhat is wrong with me?\u201d she cries. Cramer nails Ruth\u2019s melodramatic childishness.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-asset inline-image layout-horizontal  subscriber-hide  tnt-inline-asset tnt-inline-relcontent tnt-inline-image tnt-inline-relation-child tnt-inline-presentation-default tnt-inline-alignment-left tnt-inline-width-half\">\n<figure class=\"photo layout-horizontal hover-expand letterbox-style-white\"><span class=\"expand hidden-print\" data-toggle=\"modal\" data-photo-target=\".photo-b73dff51-8b4a-4afe-b28c-ce07a9fb0c74\" data-instance=\"#gallery-items-fd46e891-0eb1-4fe2-acf0-c5cf52ed9fdf-photo-modal\" data-target=\"#photo-carousel-fd46e891-0eb1-4fe2-acf0-c5cf52ed9fdf\"><br \/>\n                <span class=\"fas tnt-expand\"\/><br \/>\n            <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image\" data-toggle=\"modal\" data-photo-target=\".photo-b73dff51-8b4a-4afe-b28c-ce07a9fb0c74\" data-instance=\"#gallery-items-fd46e891-0eb1-4fe2-acf0-c5cf52ed9fdf-photo-modal\" 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class=\"caption\">\n<p>                                <span class=\"caption-text\"><\/p>\n<p>Daniel (Casey Hoekstra) and Ruth (Maggie Cramer) are young adults still living at home with their parents in &#8220;Tribes&#8221; at American Players Theatre.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                                <\/span><\/p>\n<p>                                <span class=\"credit\"><br \/>\n                                    <span itemprop=\"author\" class=\"tnt-byline\">MICHAEL BROSILOW<\/span><br \/>\n                                <\/span><\/p>\n<p>                        <span class=\"clearfix\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Langs, Castille and Welliver worked together on this play eight years ago, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.seattletimes.com\/entertainment\/theater\/at-act-tribes-is-about-communication-as-well-as-hearing\/\" target=\"_blank\">at ACT in Seattle<\/a>, which may be part of why this production looks so lived-in. As Billy and Sylvia, Castille and Welliver wear their feelings outside of themselves, watchful and cautious. They\u2019re wonderful to watch.<\/p>\n<p>Jason Fassl designed the lighting and projections, which translate and add a touch of theatrical magic, notes appearing and fading as Sylvia plays \u201cClair de Lune\u201d on the piano.<\/p>\n<p>Fassl designed Christopher and Beth\u2019s upper-class liberal living room, too, with a minute eye for detail: stacks of books, ceramic statues from trips abroad, framed posters and macrame wall art next to family photos. Even the refrigerator magnets appear deliberate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTribes\u201d goes inside a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/life-refracted\/201806\/3-family-styles-which-best-describes-yours\" target=\"_blank\">closed family system<\/a>, not without love, that the members fiercely defend even though they\u2019re all miserable.<\/p>\n<p>But there are threads here about identity, and how much of who we are comes through in how we communicate. I think of <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vulture.com\/article\/freedom-in-speech-sanaz-toossis-english.html\" target=\"_blank\">Sanaz Toossi\u2019s play \u201cEnglish,\u201d<\/a> about a group of Iranian students in an English as a second language class. In it, a character describes speaking only in her non-native language as living \u201cin isolation from yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s Billy without people who understand him, in isolation. It\u2019s also Billy without his family. May he, and we, never have to choose.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/captimes.com\/users\/profile\/lindsay%20christians\/\">Lindsay Christians<\/a>\u00a0is the food and culture editor at the Cap Times. She earned a master&#8217;s degree in theater research from UW-Madison and has been a member of the American Theatre Critics\/Journalists Association since 2007.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>Email story ideas and tips to Lindsay at\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/captimes.com\/entertainment\/arts-and-theatre\/at-apt-tribes-closes-ranks-around-family-dysfunction\/mailto:lchristians@captimes.com\">lchristians@captimes.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Please consider supporting Lindsay\u2019s work by becoming a\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/capitaltimes.fundjournalism.org\/contribute\/?campaign=7013i000000FDIPAA4\">Cap Times member<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/captimes.com\/advertise\/how-to-advertise\/article_7dabb8aa-5d4e-502f-a999-eb224a1921e9.html\">sponsor<\/a>. Sustaining local journalism in Madison depends on readers like you.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source captimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Tribes\u2019 Through Sept. 27 Touchstone Theatre, American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Road, Spring Green $76-$114 americanplayers.org\/plays\/tribes; (608) 588-2361 Running time is 2 hours and 25 minutes with one intermission. There\u2019s a certain pleasure in hate-watching a character, hollering in your living room at a villain who can\u2019t hear you. Best to subdue these instincts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1968327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[348091],"class_list":["post-1968326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-arts-and-theatre"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/At-APT-\u2018Tribes-closes-ranks-around-family-dysfunction-Entertainment.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1968326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1968327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1968326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1968326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1968326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}