Tribes

"Billy, welcome home. Join in in an argument," greets Christopher (Patrick Shea), the contentious patriarch of an overly-stimulated British family (never given a last name) in the first scene of Nina Raine's "Tribes." Up to this point, Billy (James Caverly), who looks like he could be a barista at Starbucks, has sat by making curious inquiries into the cacophonous argument his parents and siblings are having. Billy remains outside the fray -- not because he doesn't want to participate, but because being deaf (though an excellent lip-reader), he can't follow the nuances of the conversation.

It is established immediately that Billy's parents and siblings make up the kind of family that would be welcome on their own cable television series: foul-mouthed, yet witty -- they argue with an amiable brinksmanship that screams entertaining dysfunction. Billy, a recent college graduate, has moved home where he joins his brother Daniel (Nael Nacer) and sister Ruth (Kathryn Myles) in the family's hermetic world (one of the "tribes" of the title).

The family profess to be artists. Dad Christopher is a retired academic writing books (on topics we never learn), Mom Beth (Adrianne Krstansky) is a late bloomer, finishing her first novel (a marriage breakdown/detective story) in her 60s, Daniel is writing a thesis (about the inefficiencies of language, no less) without much success, and Ruth is a musical dilettante, singing with community groups, making you think that she's a Susan Boyle in the making.

This set-up had me thinking of a wildly dissimilar play with the same plot: Jean Cocteau's "Les Parents Terribles" -- a title that says it all. But these family members aren't monsters, they're convivial eccentrics. So what if Christopher hears voices? (In one of the play's ironic touches, Daniel drowns them out by listening to the radio, but its din bothers Billy -- or maybe it's the vibrations produced by the radio speakers? -- so it's shut off.)

Billy's world expands when he meets Sylvia (Erica Spyres) at a function for the deaf. She's attractive and quirky, and we quickly learn that it won't be long before she joins Billy in his silent world: A genetic condition is causing her to lose her hearing. Having been brought up in a deaf home, she knows how to sign and is surprised to see that Billy doesn't. But he never learned; his father thinks that signing is akin to surrendering to political correctness. Billy's an excellent lip reader, he feels. That should be enough.

Raine packs her play with provocative themes about the nature of families -- both real ones, those we make and those that are defined by society. Billy learns independence from Sylvia and the deaf world she brings him into, but this proves double-edged: She doesn't want to surrender to her impending deafness.

Billy's lip-reading skills lead him to a job in the courts, translating testimony from video tapes; that, and his romance with Sylvia creates a rivalry with Daniel, who begins to act out to the point where he impulsively kisses her while sneaking a cigarette late one night.

Christopher rails on about the imprecision of sign language and his self-serving defense as to why he wouldn't allow signing in his home. (About midway through the first act, you realize he couldn't stop pontificating long enough to learn sign, or anything else.) Somehow, we are lead to believe there's this bond between the brothers, but it appeared absent in this paint-by-the-numbers production. It is difficult to say if it is the writing, which felt forced, or the lack of chemistry between the actors, but this emotional meme is sorely underwhelming.

This is unfortunate because this relationship frames the play. Without emotional tension, it just feels like forced dramaturgy. Raine's is a skillful writer with a keen dramatic sense -- the ending of the first half has a rueful resonance in the best possible way. Seeing a piano, Sylvia moves to it as if by instinct, then plays Debussy as she once did while the family looks on. We hear what she'll soon be missing, and there's poignancy to the moment; but we never quite hear it her way, which would have added a missing dimension.

The play's dual trajectories -- Billy's increasing self-reliance, and Sylvia's realization that she's losing hers -- are neatly woven in the play's gentle arc. Less successful is the depiction of the eccentric tribe that raised Billy. They're quirky, but the family connections never quite gel, at least in the in-the-round configuration (modeled I suppose after the original New York production directed by David Cromer that recalled his imaginative take on "Our Town").

M. Bevin O'Gara's staging adroitly underscores Raine's convergent themes: If only these flawed, though lovable characters -- including the most touching character named Billy since the one named Eliot -- weren't so narrowly defined. But they're one-note to the point of distraction. This leads to a second act confrontation that exposes dad as a bully unable to even perceive the needs of his son until it is forced upon him. It makes for an urgent climax, but it feels forced -- preachy attitudes disguised as drama.

Raine packs her play with too many issues that are not addressed with conviction. Perhaps a longer form -- a mini-series perhaps -- would have made the drama more nuanced. As it stands, "Tribes" is as black-and-white as Christopher's criticisms of signing: Blunt and missing any subtlety.

This, admittedly, is a minority opinion. "Tribes" comes to Boston with critics' accolades and awards from its London and New York productions. No doubt they'll be repeated here, though O'Gara's production is more earnest than affecting. The bright spots are James Caverly, touching as the emotionally battered Billy, and Erica Spyres as the brave Sylvia. Together, they create a tenuous bond that sings sweetly in this noisy jumble of a play. Otherwise the actors accent the strident aspects of their characters and rarely connect emotionally.

Perhaps being performed in the round (on Cristina Todesco's cluttered set) is too immediate. Rather than feeling intimate, this approach just points out the deficiencies in the script and the staging. The use of musical interludes (Mozart arias amongst them) is effective, as are the prudent use of subtitles, but they're more decorative touches to a drama that means well, but fails to fully realize its bold ambitions.

"Tribes" runs through Oct. 12, 2013 at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston, MA. For more information, visit the SpeakEasy website.