Nina Raine: Tribes

Welcome to Your Study Guide for Nina Raine's Tribes!

Hi there! If you are studying Nina Raine’s play Tribes for your OCR A Level, you are in for a treat. This play is all about how we talk to each other—or fail to! It explores a "tribe" (a family) that loves to argue, and what happens when someone new joins who speaks a completely different language.

Don’t worry if the linguistic terms seem a bit scary at first. We are going to break everything down into simple steps. By the end of these notes, you’ll be able to talk about dramatic techniques and stylistic analysis like a pro!

1. Understanding the "Tribes"

In this play, a "tribe" is a group of people who share the same rules and language. The main character, Billy, is deaf. He has grown up in a hearing family that didn't let him learn sign language. Instead, they made him lip-read so he could fit into their tribe. When Billy meets Sylvia, who is going deaf herself and knows British Sign Language (BSL), his world changes.

Who’s Who?

• Christopher & Beth: The parents. They are very intellectual and love using big words.
• Daniel & Ruth: Billy’s siblings. They are also loud and struggling with their own identities.
• Billy: The heart of the play. He is observant but often "unheard" by his own family.
• Sylvia: The catalyst. She introduces Billy to the Deaf Community.

Quick Review: The play is about the conflict between the "Hearing Tribe" (who value spoken words) and the "Deaf Tribe" (who value visual communication).

2. Dramatic Techniques: What Happens on Stage?

Since this is a play, we have to look at how it is performed. The syllabus asks you to look at on-stage and off-stage action and paralinguistic features.

Paralinguistic Features

These are the things around the words. Think of them as "body language."
• Gestures: In Tribes, gestures are vital because of the use of BSL.
• Facial Expressions: When Billy is lip-reading, he has to watch faces intensely. This creates a specific type of dramatic tension.
• Silence: Raine uses silence to show how Billy feels when he is left out of a conversation. It’s not just "no sound"; it’s a dramatic choice.

On-Stage vs. Off-Stage

Sometimes what we don't see is just as important. If characters are arguing loudly in another room (off-stage), it creates a "wall of sound" that Billy cannot participate in. This emphasizes his isolation.

Did you know? Nina Raine often uses subtitles projected onto the stage. This helps the hearing audience understand what is being signed, but it also creates a visual "layer" of language.

Key Takeaway: Dramatic techniques aren't just about the script; they are about how the play uses sight, sound, and movement to tell a story.

3. Stylistic Analysis: How They Speak

This is where we look at the linguistic side of the play. The syllabus mentions several levels of language. Let's look at the most important ones for Tribes.

Lexis and Semantics (Words and Meanings)

The family uses high-level lexis (sophisticated words). They treat language like a weapon or a game.
Example: Christopher uses academic jargon to dominate others.
Analogy: Imagine the family is playing a game of "Words With Friends," but they are playing it at 100mph and Billy doesn't have any tiles.

Pragmatics (The "Unspoken" Rules)

Pragmatics is about what we really mean when we say something. In Billy’s family, the rules are: be loud, be clever, and don't be boring. Billy often misses the subtext (the hidden meaning) because he is focusing so hard on the literal words people are saying.

Discourse (The Flow of Conversation)

Look for overlaps and interruptions. The hearing family members constantly talk over each other. This is called "competitive turn-taking."
In contrast, BSL often requires more "cooperative" communication because you have to look at the person to understand them.

Memory Aid: The "O.I." Rule
Watch for Overlaps and Interruptions. They show who has the Power in the "Tribe."

4. Foregrounding: Patterns and Breaks

The syllabus mentions foregrounding through repetition and pattern-breaking. This is just a fancy way of saying "noticing when things change."

• Pattern-making: The family’s constant arguing becomes a pattern. We get used to the noise.
• Pattern-breaking: When Billy finally stands up for himself and uses BSL instead of speaking, he breaks the pattern. This "deviates" from the family norm and makes the audience pay close attention.

Common Mistake to Avoid: Don't just say "they argue a lot." Instead, say "Raine uses stichomythia (fast, one-line dialogue) to create a sense of chaotic discourse."

Key Takeaway: When the style of speaking changes suddenly, it usually marks a big emotional moment in the play.

5. Context: The Bigger Picture

You need to consider the social and cultural context.
1. Deaf Culture: Many deaf people view themselves as a linguistic minority, not as "disabled."
2. The Family "Tribe": Every family has its own "language" (inside jokes, specific ways of teasing). The play asks: what happens if you can't speak that language?

Quick Review Box: Key Terms for your Essay
• BSL (British Sign Language): A visual-gestural language.
• Lip-reading: An exhausting and often inaccurate way of following speech.
• Oralism: The practice of teaching deaf people to speak/lip-read rather than sign (this is what Billy's parents did).
• Identity: How we define ourselves through the groups (tribes) we belong to.

Final Encouragement

Don’t worry if analyzing phonology or morphology feels tough. Start with the big things you can see and hear on stage, then use your linguistic terms to describe them. You're doing great! Just remember: in Tribes, language isn't just words—it's a way of belonging.

Key Takeaway for the Exam: Always link the linguistic choice (how they talk) to the dramatic effect (how it makes the audience feel or what it shows about the characters).