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presents
tribes
By
Nina Raine
fe b 2 - mar 2 , 2014
B e r ke le y Str e et Th e atr e
A Theatrefront Production
Produced in association
with Canadian Stage
and Theatre Aquarius
Cast
Creative
B illy
B handshape in centre of chest*
Dir ec tor
Stephen Drabicki
Ruth
R handshape at side of chin*
Daryl Cloran
Se t, lig htin g an d
Proj ec tion De sig n e r
Lorenzo SavoinI
Patricia Fagan
Costu m e De sig n e r
SYlvia
S handshape at side of mouth*
Composer and Sound Designer
Holly Lewis
B e th
B handshape at side of chin*
Dana osborne
Richard Feren
Assistant Dir ec tor
Crystal jonasson
Nancy Palk
Stag e Manag e r
Danie l
D handshape at temple*
Assistant Stag e Manag e r
Dylan Trowbridge
Ch risto ph e r
C handshape at temple*
Joseph Ziegler
* Sign names for ASL
interpreted performances
Kate Porter
nicola benidickson
Appr e ntice Stag e Manag e r
Melissa Arsenault
Pro duc tion Manag e r
Douglas J Morum
Props Maste r
David Hoekstra
ASL COach
Thank you to Bentley Hearing Services,
Philip Akin and Obsidian Theatre, Mary Jo
Carter Dodd, Greg Dougherty, George Moore,
Anna Treusch, Sylvie Varone.
Scenic construction and art: Production Canada
Special thanks to Heather Cant,
Pat McCorkle Casting, Deaf Culture Centre,
Rose Jacobson , Catherine MacKinnon.
Elizabeth Morris
ASL Inte r pr e te r
Penny Shincariol
War drob e coor dinator
LAura Gardner
Proud Sponsor:
13.14 Berkeley season
This performance runs approximately 135 minutes.
There is one intermission.
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Director’s Note
Theatrefront’s mandate is “crossing borders” –
artistically, culturally, and geographically. We
have co-created work with artists from Sarajevo
and South Africa – their languages and cultures
becoming an integral part of the heart of both
productions. We do this to challenge our beliefs
about why we do theatre and how we do theatre
and what makes good theatre – to find new
means of artistic expression and open ourselves
to learning from immersing ourselves in new
languages and cultures.
I had an opportunity to travel to Sweden a few
years ago to work with Josette Bushell-Mingo at
Tyst Teater (the Swedish National Theatre of the
Deaf). I became very interested in Deaf arts, and
keen to collaborate with Deaf artists and feature
sign language on stage. When I read the script
for Tribes I knew it would be the perfect project
for Theatrefront. Much of Theatrefront’s work
asks questions about identity – about where we
come from and where we belong. Both RETURN
(The Sarajevo Project) and UBUNTU (The Cape
Town Project) investigate protagonists caught
between different cultures, countries and
beliefs. To me, that’s what Tribes is about – the
search to discover where one belongs. What
Tribe? The ‘family’ tribe? The Deaf tribe? What
defines us? Nina Raine’s script is so smartly
constructed and asks tough questions about the
limitations of language. All of the characters in
this play, Deaf or hearing, struggle to express
themselves, to reach out to each other and feel
understood, not alone.
On the first day of rehearsal as I greeted the
company and our American Sign Language
interpreter Penny Shincariol stood beside me
interpreting everything I said into ASL, I knew
we were in for an incredibly unique rehearsal
process. We’ve been working in two languages
constantly. It has been exhilarating (and
exhausting!). We have worked closely with our
ASL Coach Elizabeth Morris to create nuanced
dialogue for the scenes performed in ASL. I’m
also very proud that we’re offering two ASL
interpreted performances for Deaf audiences
(February 7th and 9th).
This ambitious production has been made
possible through the collaboration of three
theatre companies. My deepest thanks to
Matthew Jocelyn for his belief in this project and
to the entire Canadian Stage team for welcoming
us into their tribe. And many thanks to Ron Ulrich
and the team at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton for
their support of this project – we look forward to
bringing the show there in the spring!
Enjoy the show!
Daryl Cloran
a note from Matthew jocelyn
With her play Tribes, Nina Raines has written
a masterful study of the inevitable limitations
and frustrations that come from dependency
upon any one form of communication, while
at the same time revealing the way in which
our identity depends upon that very form
of communication. To bring this paradox
into resonant focus, she chooses to portray
a family of querulous though wickedly
witty intellectuals in which one son is Deaf.
Forbidden from learning to sign, he struggles
to keep up with his family’s obsessive verbal
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posturing, recognizing at the same time that
this verbal barrage could well be an obstacle
to some other, truer form of expression and
communication. And he sets out on a quest
to discover what language might best express
who he really is, what he really feels. There
is no pontificating in this play, no attempt to
provide absolute answers to such complex
questions, but rather a searingly honest and
clairvoyant look at the fact that while answers
there are not, seeking them out is what makes
the very substance of life.
cast &
creative
team
stephen Drabicki
patricia fagan
holly lewis
nancy palk
dylan trowbridbe
joseph ziegler
Nina Raine
daryl cloran
lorenzo savoini
dana osborne
richard feren
crystal jonasson
kate porter
nicola benidickson
melissa Arsenault
douglas J morum
elizabeth morris
penny shincariol
laura gardner
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cast
Stephen Drabicki - Billy
Stephen’s New York City credits include Jeremiah in the Off-Broadway premiere of Bruce Graham’s
According to Goldman, and Ken in the premiere of A.R. Gurney’s The Interview, a role written for him as
a part of Theater Breaking Through Barriers’ More of Our Parts and was invited to perform the role again
at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Other New York credits include The Public Theater, The New
York Deaf Theater, The Lincoln Center Songbook Series, Blessed Unrest, and a feature in the ABC/Disney
Television Casting Showcase. Regionally he has performed with Flat Rock Playhouse, Signstage on Tour,
and Bearcreek Farms. He is delighted to join the cast of Tribes as Billy. Proud Equity Member.
Holly Lewis - Sylvia
Holly is happy to be making her return to Toronto after moving to British Columbia with her family
three years ago. Canadian Stage credits: Habitat, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Theatrefront credits
include: The Mill, Ubuntu (Neptune), Return (Dora Award nomination), Underpants, Swimming in
the Shallows, Fforward. Other theatre credits include: Educating Rita (Western Canada Theatre); The
Optimists and Well, (Tarragon); Midnight Sun (Tarragon/NAC); Twelfth Night, La Ronde (Soulpepper);
Chronic (Factory). Holly starred in These Girls (TIFF official selection) and was a regular on the CBC TV
series, The Newsroom. Holly is an ensemble member of Theatrefront and the mother or Liam and Jack.
Thanks, boys, for letting mommy come to Ontario to work.
Patricia Fagan - Ruth
Patricia Fagan is a Toronto-based actor who has appeared in numerous theatres across the country. For
Theatrefront, she travelled to Bosnia and South Africa to help create the Sarajevo Project and Ubuntu.
She also appeared in Theatrefront’s production of Our Country’s Good. Patricia has been a member of
Soulpepper for several years, where selected credits include Parfumerie, The Crucible, Three Sisters,
Hamlet, King Lear, and many others. Other theatre credits include: The Syringa Tree (GCTC); Zadie’s
Shoes, Therac 25 (Factory Theatre); The Patient Hour (Tarragon); Three Squares a Day (Passe Muraille);
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (MTC/Segal Centre); Vinci (Canadian Stage). Film and TV credits
include: Republic of Doyle, Afghanada, Flashpoint, L.A. Complex, and Big Girl. Upcoming: Diane Flacks’
new play The Waiting Room (Tarragon).
Nancy Palk - Beth
Nancy’s Canadian Stage credits include Molly Sweeney, Dancing at Lughnasa, Arcadia, Hay Fever, and
Benefactors. She is a founding member and Resident Artist of Soulpepper Theatre, having performed
in Angels in America, Ghosts, Death of a Salesman, The Glass Menagerie, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia
Woolf? Her directing credits there include White Biting Dog, True West and the upcoming The Gigli
Concert. Nancy has performed across Canada, and in New York City at Theatre for A New Audience and
New York Shakespeare Festival. She will be performing at Soulpepper this summer in A Tender Thing,
along with her husband, Joe Ziegler.
Dylan Trowbridge - Daniel
Dylan is a Toronto-based actor and director and a founding member of Theatrefront. Canadian Stage
credits: Vinci. Other Theatre Credits: Mary Stuart, Measure For Measure, Titus Andronicus and The
Grapes of Wrath (Stratford Festival); Dirty Dancing (West End and Mirvish); Rutherford and Son,
Widowers’ Houses, The Coronation Voyage, Peter Pan, The Matchmaker, The Lord of the Flies (Shaw
Festival); Tiny Dynamite (Theatre Smash); Return: The Sarajevo Project, Mojo (Theatrefront); Escape
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From Happiness, Tideline (Factory Theatre). Dylan recently directed The Big Game by Tennessee
Williams (Red One/The Playwrights Project). Film and TV credits: Hemlock Grove, Copper, Bomb Girls,
Orphan Black, Murdoch Mysteries, Warehouse 13, Saw 3 and Still Life: A Three Pines Mystery.
Joseph Ziegler - Christopher
Most recently, Joseph appeared in Parfumerie, at Soulpepper, where he’s a founding member. He has
enjoyed acting there in such plays as A Christmas Carol, Death of a Salesman and The Time of Your Life.
Other favourite roles have been in Morris Panych’s Trespassers, in Stratford, and the Company Theatre’s
Whistle in the Dark. He has also directed, for Soulpepper, Our Town, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are
Dead, and Travesties, among others; and at the Shaw Festival, Harvey, On the Rocks, Moon for the
Misbegotten and Ah, Wilderness! Coming up, Joseph will be directing J.B. Priestley’s When We Are
Married (Shaw Festival) and acting in A Tender Thing (Soulpepper) with Nancy Palk, to whom he is
married, and with whom he has three sons.
creative team
Nina Raine - Playwright
Nina began her career as a trainee director at the Royal Court Theatre after graduating from Oxford.
Her debut play, Rabbit, premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre in 2006 and transferred to the West
End before going to New York. Nina directed her second play, Tiger Country, at Hampstead Theatre.
She directed Jumpy at the Royal Court Theatre, later transferring to the West End. Her commission for
the Royal Court Theatre, Tribes, won an Offie award and was nominated for the Olivier and Evening
Standard Awards for Best New Play. Tribes opened to rave reviews and won the 2012 Drama Desk
Award for Best New Play and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play. Nina
recently opened Longing at Hampstead Theatre.
Daryl Cloran - Director
For Canadian Stage: The Last Five Years. Daryl is the founding Artistic Director of Theatrefront where
he has recently directed The Mill (Now We Are Brody), Ubuntu (The Cape Town Project) and Return
(The Sarajevo Project). Daryl has also directed at theatres across Canada, including And All For Love
(NAC), Generous (Tarragon), Afterplay (Shaw Festival), Time Stands Still (Theatre Aquarius), and
This is How it Goes (Neptune). Daryl has been awarded the Canada Council’s John Hirsch Prize for
Outstanding Emerging Theatre Director, the Toronto Theatre Emerging Artist Award, and a Robert
Merritt Award for Outstanding Director (Halifax). Daryl is currently the Artistic Director of Western
Canada Theatre where he recently directed Les Miserables.
Lorenzo Savoini - Set, Lighting and Projection Designer
Lorenzo is a set, costume, and lighting designer who has contributed to eight seasons with
Soulpepper Theatre, six seasons with Stratford Festival, and many regional and independent theatre
companies throughout the country, notably Theatre Calgary, Tarragon Theatre, Neptune Theatre,
Thousand Islands Playhouse, Blyth Festival, The Globe Theatre, COC, Theatre Aquarius, Buddies
in Bad Times, Theatrefront, TheatreRun, and The Belfry Theatre. Recent credits include set and
costume design for Angels in America Part I and II; set, costume and video design for La Ronde; and
set and costume design for Idiot’s Delight (Soulpepper Theatre). Lorenzo is also the Head of Design
and an Associate Artist for Soulpepper Theatre Company. He has taught Theatre Design at the
University of Guelph and York University.
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Dana Osborne - Costume Designer
Dana is an award winning designer whose work can be seen across Canada. Theatrefront costume
design credits include: The Mill: Part 1, 2 and 3 (Dora Award), Return, Swimming in the Shallows, The
Underpants, and Mojo. Other costume design credits include: 15 productions with the Stratford Festival;
Parfumerie, Glengarry Glen Ross, Ghosts, Antigone, The Time of Your Life (Soulpepper); Macbeth
(Pacific Opera); The God Who Comes (Hawksley Workman/2b). Set and costume design credits
include: The Passion of Narcisse Mondoux, Shirley Valentine (Grand Theatre); Ed’s Garage (RMTC);
Boeing Boeing (TIP/WTC); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Dora Award), Speed the Plow
(Soulpepper). Dana is the 2012 recipient of the Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award in Costume Design.
Richard Feren - Composer and Sound Designer
Richard has been creating soundscores and music for Canadian theatre and film since 1992. Canadian
Stage credits include: THIS, The Test. Other credits include: Arigato Tokyo, The Maids, Blasted, Silicone
Diaries (Buddies in Bad Times); Seeds, Eternal Hydra (Crow’s Theatre); Cul-de-Sac, In On It, Monster,
Here Lies Henry (da da kamera); This Is What Happens Next, Half-Life, Insomnia, The Eco Show
(Necessary Angel); Lady Windermere’s Fan, When the Rain Stops Falling (Shaw Festival); Angels In
America, Endgame, Fronteras Americanas, A Raisin in the Sun, Uncle Vanya (Soulpepper). He has also
composed various film scores. Richard has won seven Dora Awards, the 1999 Pauline McGibbon Award,
and was shortlisted for the 2012 Siminovitch Prize.
Crystal Jonasson - Assistant Director
Crystal is a director, producer, and actor who has appeared on stages in Toronto, Ottawa and
throughout the Hamilton area. In 2013 she received the Emerging Artist Award in Theatre at the
Hamilton Arts Awards. She made her directorial debut at the 2013 Hamilton Fringe Festival with Kelly
Jo Burke’s play Jane’s Thumb, which received unanimously positive reviews and a Fringe ‘Shout Out’
award. Crystal is currently working as the Associate Director of the Hamilton Fringe, a mentorship
position with Festival Director Claire Calnan, made possible through the support of Theatre Ontario’s
Professional Theatre Training Program. Crystal also serves on the Board of Directors for Dundas Little
Theatre. Her company 11th year productions can be found at 11thyearproductions.com.
Kate Porter - Stage Manager
Canadian Stage credits: Half Life. Theatre credits: Ubuntu (The Cape Town Project) (Tarragon Theatre,
Western Canada Theatre and BC Tour). Recent stage management credits include: Messiah (Against
the Grain Theatre); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Don
Giovanni (Royal Conservatory of Music); The Amorous Adventures of Anatol (Tarragon Theatre); The
Secret Garden (Banff Centre for the Arts); Noises Off (Western Canada Theatre). Other: Kate was
recently Assistant Stage Manager on Salome (Canadian Opera Company).
Nicola Benidickson - Assistant Stage Manager
For Canadian Stage: debut. Other theatre credits include: Stage Manager - The Gravitational Pull of
Bernice Trimble (Factory Theatre); This Is War (Tarragon/PTE); Leporello in Gehenna (Workshop),
Decalogue Two: Name In Vain (Tarragon Theatre); Harvest (Western Canada Theatre); The Lesson,
Aurash (Modern Times Stage Company); Binti’s Journey (Theatre Direct); The Skin of Our Teeth, Hated
Nightfall (George Brown Theatre School); Assistant Stage Manager - Boeing Boeing (Thousand Islands
Playhouse); Ubuntu: The Cape Town Project (Tour) (Western Canada Theatre/Theatrefront); The
Mill: Parts 1-4 (Theatrefront); Sanctuary Song (Tapestry New Opera/Theatre Direct); How it Works,
Democracy, Moliere, House of Many Tongues (Tarragon Theatre).
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Melissa Arsenault - Apprentice Stage Manager
Melissa is very excited to be taking part in Tribes. She is a Technical Production for Theatre student at
Sheridan College that has given her a job placement with the company Theatrefront. Melissa has taken
part in many big name shows since high school including Jesus Christ Superstar, A Christmas Carol,
Sweeney Todd, Chicago, I Love You You’re Perfect Now Change and many more. Melissa will soon be
graduating in June and will start her life in theatre. She is very excited for that day and would like to
thank everyone who got her to this point.
Douglas J Morum - Production Manager
Doug is quite pleased to be working with Theatrefront again. Previous Theatrefront credits include The
Mill: parts 1, 2 ,3 and 4. Canadian Stage credits: Becket Feck it, Luba Simply Luba, The Test, The Post
Office, Ruined, A New Brain, Festen, Intimate Apparel and The Monument. Other theatre credits include:
A Synonym for Love, The Corpse Bride, Julie Sits Waiting, Night, SIA, Hallaj, Aurash, The Four Horsemen
Project. Doug is currently a Construction Manager with Production Canada Inc.
Elizabeth Morris - ASL Coach Elizabeth is an American Sign Language (ASL) coach. She was born deaf, in England, and has lived
in four countries. She is fluent in ASL and was an ASL coach for the Toronto Young People’s Theatre
production, Forever Young and more…, based on Robert Munsch’s books which won a Dora Mavor
Moore award. She was also the ASL coach for an episode in 2012 of the TV show Flashpoint featuring
a deaf child. She graduated with a BA in Educational Drama and Elementary Education from Gallaudet
University for the Deaf in Washington, D.C. She is also a certified teacher and a professional actor. She
has been a member of two Deaf Theatre tour companies in the US (National Theatre of the Deaf and
Quest for Arts), and used ASL in all their shows.
Penny Schincariol - ASL Interpreter
Right This Way Access Consulting provides ASL-English interpreting services and consulting to a wide
range of clients in a variety of venues. Penny and a number of her associates specialize in interpreting
for theatrical and entertainment projects and are working with the cast and crew of Tribes so they
can be accessible to one another. With 30 years of experience, Penny has interpreted for live theatre,
radio and television as well as corporate and community settings and her associates have diverse
backgrounds and a possess a wide range of experiences.
Laura Gardner - Wardrobe Coordinator
Select credits include: The Snow Queen (Sudbury Theatre Centre – Set Design); An Ideal Husband (George
Brown College – Costume Design); This Wide Night (Toronto Fringe Outstanding Design – Set and Costume
Design); The Mill: Ash, Part 4 (Theatrefront – Costume Design); The Mill, Parts 1 and 2 (Theatrefront –
Associate Costume Designer); Pirates of Penzance, Jesus Christ Superstar, Kiss Me Kate (Stratford – Assistant
Costume Designer); West Side Story, The Music Man, and To Kill a Mockingbird (Stratford – Assistant
Designer). Training: BFA, York University. Please visit lauragardnerdesign.ca
Tribes in partnership with Deaf Culture Centre
Visit the world’s first Deaf Culture Centre. Located at the historic Distillery District,
the centre’s current exhibit features the art of Deaf artists as well as De’VIA
(Deaf View Image Art) created by Deaf artists. www.deafculturecentre.ca
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