Children of a Lesser God. :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

A Landmark Drama

2007-02-07
Written in the late 1970s and debuting on Broadway in 1980, CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD began as Mark Medoff's response to actress Phyllis Frelich's comment that few plays portrayed deaf and hearing-impaired people in a realistic manner. The resulting play shattered stereotypes and, in a very real sense, changed the way that society in general regarded people with hearing disabilities.

The story centers on the relationship between hearing James Leeds and deaf Sarah Norman, the former a teacher, the later a defiant woman who declines to communicate in any way other than sign language. Initial hostility turns into an affair; the affair turns into a marriage--but in the wake of the marriage the couple is repeatedly torn between the deaf and hearing worlds and Sarah's sudden determination that no one shall speak for her but herself.

CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD, which won an arm-load of Tony Awards, was among the very few non-musical plays that toured extensively in the 1980s. I myself had the opportunity to see one such tour and was startled when a group seated near me walked out on the show. "I thought this was going to be a play about those dear little deaf children!" a woman in the group loudly complained. No, it isn't, and after seeing or reading it you will find it difficult to think about people with hearing disabilities--or any other disability for that matter--in quite the same way. It is powerful stuff.

Many non-theatre people find playscripts difficult to read, and in truth playscripts are a blueprint for directors and actors and not intended as reading material for the general public. This is preface to the very basic statement that some plays "read" well and some do not. I must note that many readers may find it difficult to imagine how it is staged and how the sign language and various translation modes work on stage. It will be a bit of a challenge to some, but even so I strongly recommend it.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

A Play worth Performing! Stunning Content

2000-04-30
Our school recently did a one-act play version of "Children of a Lesser God." Let me say that the subject is very embracing: a hearing-impaired woman's struggle for acceptance in a hearing world. I find that the most qouted line in our play was from Sarah: "It is a silence full of sound." Truthfully, the most gut-wrenching scene is near the end, as the two main characters have an argument over lip-reading as opposed to signing. If you'll take my opinion, you should definately purchase this playbook. I considered it to be a real eye-opener.

A Real Eye-Opener

2000-04-24
Our school recently did a one-act play version of "Children of a Lesser God." Let me say that the subject is very embracing: a hearing-impaired woman's struggle for acceptance in a hearing world. I find that the most qouted line in our play was from Sarah: "It is a silence full of sound." Truthfully, the most gut-wrenching scene is near the end, as the two main characters have an argument over lip-reading as opposed to signing. If you'll take my opinion, you should definately purchase this playbook. I considered it to be a real eye-opener.

it was pretty good

2000-04-08
I really liked the plot of this book, but it was a little confusing because they have many scenes going on at the same time. The book is about a speech teacher trying to teacher a deaf person to speek and lip read. The topic is really interesting, because I haven't really read a lot of plays about the deaf, and the struggles that they go through. There is also a big romance in the book, but I think that the romance moves a little too quickly, and in that way is unrealistic. The play is in 2 short acts. I really liked the notes from the author in the beginning about the struggle to write this play because of a deaf friend, and about how it was put on in a small theater and then moved to broadway, and then it won a tony for best actress & actor, and best play! I suggest that you read it because it brings up a lot of interesting issues!