June 5 proclaimed The Tribes Project Day by the state of Washington, King County, and the City of Seattle.

1993—What's Up With That?!

THE TRIBES PROJECT concept actually began 4 years before the "TRIBES" name was conceived by founding director J. Paul Preseault.

In the wake of the "Rodney King riots," spring 1993, Preseault's idea was simple yet infinitely complex:  bring young people of many races together to voice their ideas about race relations through the medium of theatre. 

Nine students from Garfield High School in Seattle took on the challenge and created an original performance called: What's Up With That?!

What's Up With That?!, now the ancestor to THE TRIBES PROJECT, set the tone for the future. Rebecca Jones of the Capitol Hill Times wrote: "for anyone who thinks that teens are awash in a sea of multicultural bliss, a group of Garfield students are about to shatter your illusion."

Four year after What's Up, Preseault returned to Seattle after receiving his master's degree in educational theatre from NYU.  Unfortunately, the racial landscape at Seattle schools (like most schools all over the U.S.) was still very much divided along racial lines.  The "TRIBES" name came from an observation that during breaktimes students tend to flock within their own "race tribes," that self-segregation was still very prevalent after more than 30 years of integration.

1997—The First Tribes Project:
Multiculturalism or Tribalism?

Ballard High School became the sight for the first TRIBES PROJECT.  Having a bad race relations reputation within the city, following a race oriented drive-by shooting outside the school, it was time to let the Ballard students speak for themselves.  And speak for themselves they did.

The 11 members of TRIBES 97 brought forward a complex mix of the celebration and sadness of race relations in America today.  David Rafferty, an audience member, wrote a letter to the cast, effectively capturing the general audience response: "...your performance effected me very profoundly.  At times I felt saddened, entertained, frustrated and awed."

Tribes 98
The Binds that Tie

Following the success of the first TRIBES PROJECT, it was determined that the work must continue... hence came TRIBES 98.  Nathan Hale High School, one of Seattle's most diverse schools, was selected as the natural place to keep the project growing. 

The 13 member cast reflected an incredible rainbow of ethnicities, including some international and ESL students, as well as a number of biracial students—representing a steadily growing population in our ever demographically changing society.

Many in the 98 cast faced their own prejudices for the first time, exemplifying the challenges and rewards of working within a true multicultural environment.  As stated by TRIBES 98 cast member Karlee Dalan: "To say this has impacted my life would be an understatement.  I've definitely learned to confront the biases I was so sure about when I started this." 

Their performances, seen by over 3,700 people throughout Washington, delivered a raw and satiric punch that had audiences laughing yet thinking at the same time.

Tribes 99
Race in America:
The Experiment Continues...

The 1999 TRIBES PROJECT created at Garfield High School was another fantastic success, experienced by over 4,800 people statewide, it was a true testament to the power and urgency of our youths' perspectives on race issues.  Their work was particularly timely that year, as it dug deeply into the roots of prejudice and misunderstanding, when events of tremendous violence by so-called outcast youth erupted throughout our country.

Again, audience response was tremendous, including three days in a row of standing-room-only performances at the Intiman Theatre during Folklife Festival. 

Kevin C. Jones, an audience member, stated: "Since the performance, I’ve been viewing teens with a different lens, one with more respect for their abilities and their special place in society. … I have no doubt that these kids will become—have become—far better citizens of the world as a result of this experience.  Powerful stuff!"

Tribes 2000
We Are Not Color Blind

TRIBES 2000! A mythic sounding event, that lived up to the millenial hype. Created with students from Chief Sealth High School, one of the most diverse schools in Seattle, their performance, called We Are Not Color Blind, brought down the house again and again.

Seven thousand audience members experienced the show live, while the Seattle Municipal Channel broadcast a video taped version of the performance many times into over 160,000 homes throughout King County.

For the first time, TRIBES toured beyond the borders of Washington State, to perform in both Oregon and British Columbia, Canada. THE TRIBES PROJECT once again managed to grow on all levels in 2000.

Tribes 2001
Face Change & Novaland

THE TRIBES PROJECT 2001… what a year! Beginning with the formation of a new ALUMNI ENSEMBLE program, followed by another fantastic high school production season with Renton High students, and capped off with a major award and an amazing journey to South Africa—2001 was truly a banner year for TRIBES.

The following are highlights from the year:

• Creation of the TRIBES ALUMNI ENSEMBLE—giving past TRIBES members the opportunity to continue their work as   performers and race educators, while making Tribes performances available year-round.
•The (Renton High) TRIBES 2001 performance, Face Change, completed a record setting season: 24 performances for   over 7,200 people throughout the Pacific Northwest.
• June 5th proclaimed "The TRIBES PROJECT Day" by the State of Washington, King County, and the City of Seattle.
• The TRIBES ALUMNI ENSEMBLE went to South Africa, worked with the Soweto Youth Drama Society in the creation of a   joint production, and performed at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism. (check out the international page!)
• Recipient of The Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity year 2001: Faces of Courage Award

Tribes 2002
Ignorance is BS
Standing Room Only &
Conference of the Birds

The first ever Alumnus directed project! Monica Barroga, a member of TRIBES 97, who had been working with J. Paul for years as a production choreographer, took the leap by directing her very own show.

Created at Franklin High School, TRIBES 2002 impressed audiences all over the Northwest (including the first TRIBES appearance in Idaho), receiving thunderous applause the entire run. The hard working 2002 cast performed 25 times for over 7,500 people.

The TRIBES ALUMNI ENSEMBLE was also hard at work again, collaborating with “TRIBES' ancestors,” that is cast members from the 1993 precursor to Tribes: Garfield’s What’s Up With That?, to create another original production called: Standing Room Only. The performance received extraordinarily positive response wherever we performed.

Building on the success of our amazing journey and collaboration to South Africa last summer, our International presence was once again felt, as we traveled to England to perform and work with Theatre Venture of East London.

Our London production marked another TRIBES first, as we produced The Conference of The Birds, a script written by Jean-Claude Carriere and Peter Brook, based on the 12th Century epic poem by Farid Uddi Attar. Never before had we faced the challenge of making a non-original production into a “TRIBES experience” for cast and audience members alike. With a lot of hard work, and many yards of beautiful stretch velvet creating magnificent wing spans - the results were fabulous.

Tribes 2003
In Our Names
Wake of the Horse & Zgjimi I Kalit

Tribes returned to Garfield High for a third go around. As usual GHS proved to be an amazing place to find dedicated, motivated, and thouroughly talented cast members. The 2003 performance, In Our Names, directed by Keni Cohen, found itself in new territory such as Sisters Oregon high up in the mountains, as well as back at old haunts such as the Chemawa Indian School, and the Northwest Folklife Festival playing to sold-out audiences (a Tribes tradition at Folklife!)

The Tribes Alumni Ensemble tackled the rough territory of adapting the Greek tragedy The Trojan Women by Euripides. Called: Wake of the Horse, the Alumni production carried on our growing international tradition by playing in the US and abroad, but this time with a twist. Wake translated into Albanian, Serbian, and English, was performed in Kosovo by an incredible group of Kosovars, as a whole new group of international Tribes members were born in an intense month of rehearsing and performing. The historic relevence of our tour through Kosovo was truly a once in a lifetime experience as we played on stages that had not be opened since the onset of the 1998 war there.

Tribes 2004
skin:deep
Blanket of Fear & El Caballo Despierta

In residence at Tyee High School, and directed by Leticia Lopez, our 2004 HS production called skin:deep, performed eighteen times for over 6,000 people.  Many of the Tyee cast had never performed prior to Tribes, so you can imagine their glowing collective pride when their shows were met by raucous cheers, thoughtful silences, solemn tears, and many post-show thank yous from peer and adult audience members.  The show performed three times at Tyee so that every grade would have the opportunity to experience the performance.  After the final show, Tyee Principal Max Silverman simply stated: “Awesome.  I wish we could have Tribes at our school every year.”

Tribes Alumni were active both locally and abroad.  The Alumni Ensemble created a three woman show called Blanket of Fear.  The performance featured not only two of our alumni board members - Emy and Angel, but also the return of Michaela Leslie-Rule, a member of the What's Up with That cast from 93.  After a performance at the University of Washington, Tacoma, an administrator from the school stated:  "that was the best performance we've had on campus all year, by far."  Go to our Alumni page for more info about Blanket of Fear.

On the international scene, our adaptation of Trojan Women was once again translated into another language, this time Spanish, called El Caballo Despierta.  Performed by local Mexican youth in Los Barriles on the Baja peninsula, the production brought story telling in Spanish to the stage for the first time in many years and seemed to touch the community profoundly.  Go to the International page for more on the Baja performance. 

All said – Tribes productions (local and international) were experienced by over 11,000 people in 2004.     

Tribes 2005
Dreams About Teeth

The Tribes 2005 performance called Dreams About Teeth, directed by our founding director J. Paul, performed not only in the Pacific Northwest, but also made a week long tour to Chicago.  Building upon the Mask work started with Wake of the Horse, Dreams, was a feast of visually arresting images, skilled movement and voice work.  Again and again appreciative audience members could not help themselves as we were asked:  Why is the show called Dreams About Teeth?  In the world of dream analysis, dreams about teeth get a great deal of attention and are universally regarded as significant.  Dreams about teeth cause many disparate, and/or opposing viewpoints...does this sound familiar?  Race in America:  is it everything?  Is it nothing?  Many passionate views...do we see the same thing?  Should we?  Do we question our own perceptions as much as those of others?  Questions are good - they can lead to answers.  Meanwhile, we are artists, so why not Dreams About Teeth?

Tribes 2006
Travels and Transitions

An unusual year - a year of connections and collaborations; research and resettlement; travels and transitions. Founding director J.Paul Preseault permanently departed from Seattle to resettle in Chicago to build another Tribes company in the "Windy City." Throughout the year, J.Paul was invited as a representative of Tribes to participate in a number of international theatre making events around the world. At The 5th Annual International Playback Theatre Conference in Havana, Cuba, J.Paul was blessed to experience working with passionate young Cuban performers while taking in the incredible sights and sounds of a city unlike any other on the globe. This journey was followed by J.Paul's participation in an ambitious seven country collaboration called The Borges Project; that performed at the International Theatre Institute's World Congress in Manila, Philippines. A year maybe not so unusual - just another year of striving for change.

See the audience response to TRIBES