Two tribes go to war at DTF and the result is truly sublime

Tribes is that rarest of beasts, a play driven by sophisticated ideas that also hits home on a gut emotional level

The cast of Tribes, running at the Gate Theatre as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival Pic: Agata Stoinska

Tribes

By Nina Raine

The Gate Theatre, Dublin

Runs until November 11

Rating:*****

How can you feel a feeling unless you have the word for it?” asks Christopher (Nick Dunning), the bohemian patriarch in Nina Raine’s riveting family drama Tribes. According to this logic, he sees no point in learning sign language for the benefit of his deaf child Billy (Alex Nowak) because it is nothing but “broken English”. Instead, the young man ...