'Tribes' Testing New Caption Technology To Expand Audience

DENVER (CBS4)- The show "Tribes" has become so popular, the Denver Center Theatre Company has added another show this Sunday.

Tribes is the story of one man, Billy, and his introduction into the deaf community when his family revealed why they never taught him sign language.

"It's a wonderful validation for a lot of the deaf community members who come and see it and recognize their own experiences and their own upbringings," said Kate Finch who plays Sylvia.

In the play, Sylvia is slowly going deaf.

"Which is an unwelcome and sort of frightening journey for her," said Finch.

She introduces Billy to the deaf community, a world he has never known even though he's been deaf most of his life.

"I have a difficult time with this show sometimes because of where I'm at, I relate to Sylvia," said Tad Cooley, who plays Billy in the show.

Cooley is slowly losing his hearing and recently was introduced to the deaf community himself.

"When I do this play, this feeling that I had when I was just brought into the world, comes back to me every time," said Cooley.

The Denver Center Theatre Company is making the play accessible to everyone. They're testing a new captioning technology that provides the script to deaf or hearing impaired patrons in real time.

"I noticed they color-coded the different characters, we could see who was talking at what time," said Rachel Blyth who helped test the technology.

Blyth said this will help make the theater an equal entertainment experience for everyone.

Tribes is playing at the Ricketson Theatre at the DCPA through Nov. 15.