Tribes

by Nina Raine

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January 8 - 24, 2016

Billy is the youngest of three adult children in a fairly dysfunctional middle class London family. His parents, his brother, and his sister are intellectuals and artists; critics and creators; they are counter culture and bourgeoisie. In other words, they are walking contradictions. In a family where the currency is discourse, Billy is quiet, isolated and thoughtful. Billy is deaf. 

Billy has lived among the noise of the hearing all of his life. One day he meets Sylvia, a woman about his own age, whose life mirrors his. Sylvia comes from parents with hearing loss. She is in the community, she is fluent in sign, and she herself is losing her hearing. Billy starts to realize that family is just one component that defines who we are and which “tribe” we choose to align ourselves.