Play Reading in English - Children of a Lesser God by Mark Medoff
HK
English Speaking Union
Mon
2014-07-21 7:15 PM - 2 h
Colette's
Free
admission
Synopsis
'Children
of a Lesser God' was an outstanding success on Broadway in the late '70s and
early '80s and was subsequently adapted into a popular movie with William Hurt
in the leading role. The play won several awards including the prestigious Tony
prize.
The
play, which is told in retrospect from the perspective of the male protagonist,
concerns a young speech therapist named James Leeds who joins the faculty of a
school for the deaf in the U.S. after service overseas in the Peace Corps. He
is idealistic and highly motivated as a teacher, but is confronted with an
unexpected challenge as he falls for an ex-student and school dropout called
Sarah. She resists the attempt to force lip-reading onto the students at the
school and prefers to remain in her own world of communication which is
mediated by sign language. The teachers are not competent in sign language so
the students are expected to learn to lip-read and employ their residual
hearing where possible.
The play
presents the struggle for recognition for the use of sign language by and for
non-hearing people, which is becoming more accepted nowadays in a number of
more advanced societies, where awareness of discrimination against those with
hearing impairment has become apparent. Sarah and James fall in love gradually
as James engages with her as a teacher and therapist, but as the play
progresses Sarah becomes ever more militant in pursuit of the civil rights and
respect which are not given to people who are hearing-impaired. She
particularly resists attempts by hearing people and teachers to patronize, pity
and impose their values and speech conventions on her and others like her.
The play
shows us that even love and understanding may not be enough to bridge the gulf
between the hearing and the non-hearing world, but most importantly it portrays
the human aspects of the situation and makes us realize that the differences
are minimal in comparison to the human feelings and desires which unite rather
than divide. A wonderful example of the genre of 'problem play', 'Children of a
Lesser God' is a compelling and heart-warming drama as well as a highly
thought-provoking modern classic.
Play
reading will be conducted in English.
