Miss-Delectable
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Ohio.com - Deaf issues in forefront
Children of a Lesser God is much more a play about ideas than it is about romance.
You wouldn't know that from the movie adaptation of Mark Medoff's 1979 play. The 1986 silver screen version, starring Marlee Matlin and William Hurt, focused solely on the passionate love story between deaf Sarah and her teacher, James.
At Weathervane Community Playhouse, the production remains true to the original stage version. The play's political and cultural themes come to the forefront, while there's next to no sexual heat onstage.
This memory play is set in 1975 at a state-run deaf school. James, who comes to teach speech, finds a great challenge in deaf graduate Sarah, who has stayed on as a maid.
Weathervane's set, designed by Todd Dieringer, is bare except for some stairs, platforms and a chalkboard as James reaches back into his memory.
Through actor Ryan McMullen, we see that James is attracted to Sarah because she is a quick, intelligent live wire. But he and deaf actress Kristen Bowen as Sarah display very little romantic chemistry, pecking each other on the lips as if they were brother and sister. A little romance would have been nice.
McMullen, a talented young actor, gives a one-note performance: His Jim comes across as heavy on the sarcasm most of the time. Yet McMullen looks completely at ease doing sign language in his role because he has toured in numerous productions with Cleveland Signstage.
Written by Medoff, who could hear, this play holds historic significance in that it helped illuminate deaf culture for the hearing mainstream. In Medoff's play, Sarah and James represent a clash between the deaf and hearing worlds.
Director Larry Nehring of Lakewood has a well-defined vision for this production. The
piece originally was created for hearing people, but Nehring has made it more accessible by adding four shadow interpreters who stand with the characters and sign their dialogue, rather than relegating the interpreter to one corner of the stage.
Nehring adds a valuable authenticity to this production: He formerly worked with the deaf/hearing theater company Sunshine Too in Rochester, N.Y. Two of his actors — Bowen in the lead role and Jesse Catalano as Orin — are deaf, and studied at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester.
Bowen's highly expressive signing is mesmerizing. Her character is the most likable, as Sarah insists that no one else ever speak for her again.
At Weathervane, the relationship between James and Sarah becomes more real in the second act, when the heavy conflict begins. James thinks he understands Sarah, yet he continually wants to change her into someone more like him.
Catalano's Orin isn't just cute, like in the movie role. Onstage, he's an antagonist fighting for deaf rights. Orin provides one of the eye-opening central messages of the play: Why do all the hearing people in deaf people's lives want the deaf to ''pass'' as hearing? Those like Sarah and Orin, proud of their deaf culture and language, don't feel the need to be ''fixed.''
Medoff has written school director Mr. Franklin as worse than apathetic toward his students — an example of the discrimination among even those who are supposed to serve the deaf community. But at Weathervane, actor David Myers' characterization is entirely wooden.
Despite this production's flaws, just as the deaf character Sarah insists on being heard, Children of a Lesser God's compelling story demands to be told. According to director Nehring, the play became a vital part of a revolution among the theretofore underground deaf, who demanded that their culture and abilities be acknowledged.
At Weathervane, even the curtain call was an emotional experience, as many in the audience raised their hands in the air and waved them as a visual form of applause to show their appreciation for the deaf actors.
Children of a Lesser God is much more a play about ideas than it is about romance.
You wouldn't know that from the movie adaptation of Mark Medoff's 1979 play. The 1986 silver screen version, starring Marlee Matlin and William Hurt, focused solely on the passionate love story between deaf Sarah and her teacher, James.
At Weathervane Community Playhouse, the production remains true to the original stage version. The play's political and cultural themes come to the forefront, while there's next to no sexual heat onstage.
This memory play is set in 1975 at a state-run deaf school. James, who comes to teach speech, finds a great challenge in deaf graduate Sarah, who has stayed on as a maid.
Weathervane's set, designed by Todd Dieringer, is bare except for some stairs, platforms and a chalkboard as James reaches back into his memory.
Through actor Ryan McMullen, we see that James is attracted to Sarah because she is a quick, intelligent live wire. But he and deaf actress Kristen Bowen as Sarah display very little romantic chemistry, pecking each other on the lips as if they were brother and sister. A little romance would have been nice.
McMullen, a talented young actor, gives a one-note performance: His Jim comes across as heavy on the sarcasm most of the time. Yet McMullen looks completely at ease doing sign language in his role because he has toured in numerous productions with Cleveland Signstage.
Written by Medoff, who could hear, this play holds historic significance in that it helped illuminate deaf culture for the hearing mainstream. In Medoff's play, Sarah and James represent a clash between the deaf and hearing worlds.
Director Larry Nehring of Lakewood has a well-defined vision for this production. The
piece originally was created for hearing people, but Nehring has made it more accessible by adding four shadow interpreters who stand with the characters and sign their dialogue, rather than relegating the interpreter to one corner of the stage.
Nehring adds a valuable authenticity to this production: He formerly worked with the deaf/hearing theater company Sunshine Too in Rochester, N.Y. Two of his actors — Bowen in the lead role and Jesse Catalano as Orin — are deaf, and studied at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester.
Bowen's highly expressive signing is mesmerizing. Her character is the most likable, as Sarah insists that no one else ever speak for her again.
At Weathervane, the relationship between James and Sarah becomes more real in the second act, when the heavy conflict begins. James thinks he understands Sarah, yet he continually wants to change her into someone more like him.
Catalano's Orin isn't just cute, like in the movie role. Onstage, he's an antagonist fighting for deaf rights. Orin provides one of the eye-opening central messages of the play: Why do all the hearing people in deaf people's lives want the deaf to ''pass'' as hearing? Those like Sarah and Orin, proud of their deaf culture and language, don't feel the need to be ''fixed.''
Medoff has written school director Mr. Franklin as worse than apathetic toward his students — an example of the discrimination among even those who are supposed to serve the deaf community. But at Weathervane, actor David Myers' characterization is entirely wooden.
Despite this production's flaws, just as the deaf character Sarah insists on being heard, Children of a Lesser God's compelling story demands to be told. According to director Nehring, the play became a vital part of a revolution among the theretofore underground deaf, who demanded that their culture and abilities be acknowledged.
At Weathervane, even the curtain call was an emotional experience, as many in the audience raised their hands in the air and waved them as a visual form of applause to show their appreciation for the deaf actors.
