Philadelphia Theatre Company to Stage TRIBES, 1/24-2/23

Philadelphia Theatre Company rings in the New Year with the 2012 Drama Desk Award winner Tribes by Nina Raine January 24 - February 23 at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard Streets). Directed by Stuart Carden, the ensemble features Robin Abramson, Tad Cooley, Alex Hoeffler, John Judd, Amanda Kearns, and Laurie Klatscher.

Previews begin Friday, January 24 with Opening Night on Wednesday, January 29. Performances run Tuesdays through Sundays until February 23. Tickets starting at $46 are available by calling the PTC Box Office at 215-985-0420 or visiting PhiladelphiaTheatreCompany.org. Philadelphia Theatre Company's Suzanne Roberts Theatre is located at Broad and Lombard Streets in Center City Philadelphia.

Tribes is a co-production with Pittsburgh's City Theatre Company. Julia and Gene Ericksen are Honorary Executive Producers of Tribes.

Billy is a young deaf man living silently among his loud, intellectually elite and fiercely opinionated family who talk a lot, but don't listen very well. He has adapted brilliantly to his hearing family's unconventional ways, but they've never bothered to return the favor. It's not until he falls in love with Sylvia, a young woman on the brink of deafness, that he fully appreciates what it means to be understood.

Tribes, commissioned for London's Royal Court Theatre, won an Offie Award and was also nominated for both Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best New Play. When it transferred to Off-Broadway in March, 2012 it won the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Best New Play and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play.

"Nina Raine has created vibrant characters and a complex story that lifts it above most domestic dramas. Brilliantly using deafness as a metaphor for a family trying to be heard and learning to listen, her depiction of the politics and divisions within the deaf community is gutsy and revelatory as is her portrait of a family who cannot and will not accept their son's individuality," said Sara Garonzik, Philadelphia Theatre Company's Executive Producing Director. "Tribes is smart, brave and terrific theater, and its themes of inclusion and understanding are core to the work we do at Philadelphia Theatre Company."

Nina Raine (playwright) is the author of Rabbit which won the Charles Wintour Evening Standard and Critics Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright. Her most recent play Longing opened at Hampstead Theatre. As a director she helmed Unprotected at the Liverpool Everyman which won the TMA Best Director Award and the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award, and Shades, which received the Critics Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Most Promising Newcomer.

Stuart Carden (Director) is the Associate Artistic Director of Writers Theatre in Chicago where he recently directed the US Premiere of David Greig's Yellow Moon, the second developmental production of Randall Colburn's Hesperia, and Giles Havergal's adaptation of Graham Greene's Travels with My Aunt. A new play specialist who has helped commission, develop, and bring to the stage over 25 new works, he previously served as the Associate Artistic Director at City Theatre Company where he produced the Momentum Festival of New American Plays.

Robin Abramson (Ruth) has appeared in several production at Pittsburgh City Theatre, including Mary's Wedding and Blackbird, both of which earned her the 2009 Pittsburgh Post Gazette's Performer of the Year accolade. She was most recently seen in You Say Tomato, I Say SHUT UP! in Pittsburgh, San Diego and Philadelphia. She has also been a frequent guest at Pittsburgh Playhouse, Jewish Theatre of Pittsburgh and Quantum Theatre.

Tad Cooley (Billy) is currently attending the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. He has appeared in several productions in theaters around his native state of Texas including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Once on This Island, Robin Hood, and High School Musical. As a partially deaf man himself whose hearing is gradually diminishing, Cooley brings a special sensitivity to this role.

Alex Hoeffler (Daniel) has appeared on Broadway in War Horse. His regional credits include You're A Good Man Charlie Brown and Phantom of the Alamo, both at The Magik Theatre, and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at The Royal Pretenders. He is a recent graduate of University of South Carolina School of the Arts.

John Judd (Christopher) has had an active career as a Chicago-based actor, appearing in numerous productions at the Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Court Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, and Northlight Theatre. His New York credits include Orson's Shadow and An Oak Tree, both at Barrow Street Theatre. His other regional appearances include roles at The Old Globe, McCarter Theatre, Huntington Theatre, and Westport Country Playhouse.

Amanda Kearns (Sylvia), a Philadelphia actress, is a recent graduate of Philadelphia's University of the Arts. She has appeared in NPGN at both the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Manhattan Repertory Fall Festival as well as in performances at RebelYard Theatre, Bright Light Theatre Company, Hybridge Arts Collective, and Applied Mechanics.

Laurie Klatscher (Beth) was named "Performer of the Year 2011" by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for her performances in the premieres of Precious Little at Pittsburgh City Theatre and Lost Boy Found in Whole Foods at The Playhouse Rep. A founding member of New York's Primary Stages, she also appeared in The Doctors with Alec Baldwin. A resident of Pittsburgh for the past 21 years, she has appeared in numerous productions at Quantum Theatre and Pittsburgh City Theatre.

Tribes' creative team of designers includes - Set Designer Narelle Sissons; Lighting Designer Andrew David Ostrowski; and Sound/Projection Designer Mike Tutaj, and costume designer Janus Stefanowicz who returns for her 26th PTC production, having won a Barrymore Award for Intimate Apparel.

PTC's mainstage season continues with Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang (March 21-April 20) and A Boy and His Soul, written and performed by Colman Domingo (May 23-June 22).