Children of a Lesser God: A Play in Two Acts

by Mark Medoff

A play in two acts by Mark Medoff who won the Tony Award for Best Play of the 1979-1980 Broadway Season. The play details the meeting, courtship and marriage of James Leeds and Sarah Norman. Sarah, who is totally deaf and works as a maid in the school for the deaf where James has become a teacher. Their story addresses the basic tenets of human relationships and communication, and the courage with which they triumph over difficulty cannot help but move and uplift the reader's spirit.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Fiction, Classics, Romance, Disability

97 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Mark Medoff was an American playwright, screenwriter, film and theatre director, actor, and professor. His play Children of a Lesser God received both the Tony Award and the Olivier Award. He was nominated for an Academy Award and a Writers Guild of America Best Adapted Screenplay Award for the film script of Children of a Lesser God.

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

drama
young deaf women, reluctant to learn to speak or read lips, working as maid in school for deaf, forms relationship with teacher.

fascinating view of how those viewed as disabled are expected to adjust to the world. and the degree to which one's relationships and life can be defined by this

interesting dialog about music



“I know you can feel it. But that’s just a small part of it.
You see, music is . . . ( Incredible subject to communicate.)
Music has a . . . ( But he’s going to try.) Music starts with
pitches. [P-i-t-c-h-e-s.] Sounds! High and low. A whole, huge
range of sounds. And each one has its own emotional life. And
then when you combine them and play them together — these two
and these two — it has a whole new life. And then you can play
them on different instruments — trombones, violins, flutes and
drums — The combinations are infinite! And then when you put it
all together, with a beginning, a middle, and an end, it grows into
a ... It transcends mere sound and speaks directly to your
heart — because you hear it! I don’t have the signs that can ... I
can’t explain it, I’m sorry.”



“Yes, I’m a terrific teacher : Grow, Sarah, but not too much.
Understand yourself, but not better than I understand you. Be
brave, but not so brave you don’t need me any more. Your silence
frightens me. When I’m in that silence, I hear nothing, I feel like
nothing. I can never pull you into my world of sound any more
than you can open some magic door and bring me into your
silence. I can say that now.”

[Alanna McFall · Rating 4 out of 5]

24. A book we read in high school/college and loved: Children of a Lesser God by Mark Medoff

List Progress: 27/30 (+3)

I am not equipped to talk about Mark Medoff’s 1979 play Children of a Lesser God. This modern classic is one of the only mainstream theatrical works to directly involve deaf culture and deaf characters, and I am a hearing woman. Medoff himself is not deaf, but the play was written specifically for and with deaf actress Phyllis Frelich. A note in the play’s forward involves a direct request from Medoff that all professional productions cast deaf or hard of hearing actors for three of the main roles. A huge portion of the dialogue is intended to be communicated in either Signed English or American Sign Language. As much as when I first read this play in college, it is a window to a type of life and a subculture that I have no real awareness of or experience in. For that alone, it is beautiful.

It is also exceptionally 80’s. I had honestly forgotten how much so.

Children of a Lesser God follows the romance between a young woman in her twenties, Sarah, who is completely deaf and does not speak, and the speech instructor, James, at the school for the deaf where they both work. Sarah is stubborn and fierce and refuses to be pitied or to let others speak for her, and the connection between her and James is as electric as it is unbalanced and problematic. Male and female, teacher and student, hearing and deaf: James has every possible structural position of power over Sarah, and as fluent of a signer as he is and as much as he works with deaf students, he will never truly understand how much of an advantage he has over her. So much of the tension of the script comes from James and Sarah just speaking past one another.

The play itself is told entirely through James’ perspective, with characters moving in and out of a fairly impressionistic mindspace, and it took me a while to get used to some of the stylistic writing, but the content itself is solid. I have some nitpicks, I think a few of the side characters are a bit underwritten, but the dynamic between Sarah and James is rich and tense enough to carry a lot.

So I have never seen Children of a Lesser God performed, and I honestly feel like I need to (or need to watch the 1986 film adaptation), because I can feel that I am missing part of the experience. Sarah communicates exclusively through sign language, and speaking characters translate or pointedly don’t translate for her according to the dynamics of the scene, as well as having signed-only conversations between deaf characters. Being able to read Sarah’s lines, I am getting information that I wouldn’t be getting as a non-signing audience member, and you can tell that some of the point for a hearing audience is to make them feel as cut off from and blocked out of conversations as Sarah and the other deaf characters do. This is a very rare moment where I wish I had less of the script. If possible, I would recommend seeing a staged/filmed version before reading the script, but it is still very beautiful on its own.

Aside from being stylistically very 80’s, I don’t know how much of the content pertaining to deaf lives has changed between the original publication and now. I honestly can’t speak to how true-to-today Sarah’s experiences of being institutionalized her whole life and craving a buy-in to mainstream culture are, but I have to imagine it’s more current than I would think. This is a powerful, eye-opening play, and while I’m reading it with a more critical eye than I did in college, it still manages to knock me back, even with its imperfections.

Would I Recommend It: Yes, but see a performed version first if possible.

[Mark Woodland · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most moving plays I've ever seen. It probably doesn't have the same impact on reading it, since the visuals & sign language are such a part of the play, but it's a marvelous example of delving into an intense and unusual relationship.

[Yara Hossam · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the readings in my Cultural and Social Awareness course and dear god its the best one in this course (aside from The Miracle Worker).
Anyways this is brilliant. I’ve made up my mind that social stigma and society’s ability to exclude anyone who is different is my favorite topic to read about. Now this was different. Sarah is such a strong, determined, fierce character. I liked it endlessly.

[Francesca]

Non conosco l'autore, ignoravo completamente la natura dell'opera (non ho nemmeno mai visto il film che fu tratto da questo lavoro). Ho trovato il volume in una sala d'aspetto e incuriosita l'ho letto. Probabilmente vederlo rappresentato è l'unico modo per apprezzare il testo. Almeno è l'impressione che ho avuto.

[Neil Schleifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, if at times convoluted, look at the relationship between James Leeds, an overly nurturing hearing teacher ata School for the Deaf and Sarah Norman, the strong-willed deaf woman he falls in love with.

Sarah refuses to speak -- to conform to what society expects of her -- and her obstinate choice virtually condemns her to one of two options: have a translator speak her words for her so that she can never truly communicate for herself or to not communicate at all if those around her cannot use sign language. James wants to make everything all right, and his obsessive need to help her smothers their relationship.

I found it interesting that James comes off saintly, but flawed while Sarah is portrayed as pig-headed -- I wish there were more of a balance in the writing. The subject matter is important -- how the physically challenged do not want pity and they do not want their probles solved by the able-bodied. They seek independence and autonomy -- even when their cchoices sometimes result in just the opposite.

This raises some interesting questions and is definitely a good read.

[Susan Kraft · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one of the most moving stories I've ever read....and the movie based on the book was fantastic! When a new teacher at a school for the deaf meets a young woman who had attended the school, then opted to stay on as a janitor, he realizes that her fear is holding her back from venturing further in her life. He wants to help her realize her true potential.The only problem? She thinks he's an interfering, overbearing jerk and wants nothing to do with him. The story of how their relationship progresses is wonderful and feels like reality. She doesn't fall all over herself with gratitude and he doesn't give up when she tells him exactly how she feels. There's a scene in the movie where William Hurt, who plays the lead male character, jumps into the deep end of a pool and stays underwater for a while because he wants to understand how her world sounds. (Her being played by Marlee Matlin, who is deaf in real life.) It was the best scene in a movie filled with "best" scenes! Enjoy the book, then check out the movie! You'll be glad you took the time for both!!

[Megan Gery · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I would enjoy this play better live; reading everything twice was tiring. The concept is brilliant, the theme is beautiful, and it is certainly interesting to learn a bit more about the struggles of those who are deaf or hard of hearing. The characters are one-dimensional and stereotypical-- I would have liked to see more development.

I would certainly see the play or watch a movie adaptation, but the script wasn't my favorite.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a child that was born with disability . this book hit a cord in my it made me look at the world a difrant way . I do not think it the best written book in the world but it diffantly hit me and changed me

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Play that examines love, communication, humanity through the relationship of a hearing man and a deaf woman. Moving, witty, insightful.

[Isaac Timm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written, I don't know how feasibly it could be produced on stage, I would really like to see a production of Children of a Lesser God

[AJW · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play is set in the mind of James Leeds, an idealistic speech therapist working at a School for the Deaf. He falls in love with Sarah Norman, a proud Deaf lady working at the school as a cleaner.

Their relationship is volatile as they clash over many things: He’s hearing, she’s Deaf; he is a speech therapist and wants her to speak but she refuses to speak or lip read; he is overbearingly paternalistic while she is fiercely independent.

It’s a difficult play to read - more than most theatre scripts as there is a large visual component to this play.

Sarah only communicates in sign language and at times other characters use sign language. So for the benefit of the audience, there’s nearly always somebody, usually James, doing a voice over of the signed dialogue. On the written page this often means reading the dialogue twice. Also there are times when two separate things are happening on the stage at the same time.

It is also a complex play, characters say things but their silent actions say something else. This is often seen in James’s narration or justification for his behaviour. He believes he does things altruistically, but if you think carefully you’ll see how selfish he is being. He will ask Sarah to do things and say it is for her benefit, when it’s really for his own benefit. Also Sarah will repeatedly insist that she is perfectly happy on her own, but her actions silently show that she needs to connect to other people.

A more subtle example: Sarah believes her father left her and the family because she was deaf. But we are given clues that her mother forced the decision for Sarah to leave the home and go as a boarder to the School of the Deaf and that this upset her father so much that he cried all night on Sarah’s last night at home. It was shortly after Sarah had gone away that he left Sarah’s mother, presumably in disagreement. I can see Sarah getting her pigheadedness from her mother.

The play also shows how the education system fails deaf people. Another deaf character called Orin has to bring in a lawyer to force the school to consider giving him a job. A telling moment is when the headteacher says that he is not prepared to be told how to do his job by deaf people, thus revealing his superior attitude.

The key scene is at the very end. Sarah has now left, the final straw being when James forced her to use her voice against her wishes. They are having a clear the air conversation. Earlier in the play, Sarah explained to James that for her deafness is not the absence of hearing, rather “it’s a silence full of sound” and that nobody has ever met her in that place. Now at the end James admits to Sarah that “Your silence frightens me. When I am in that silence, I hear nothing. I feel like nothing.” Sarah replies that they “would have to meet in another place; not in silence or in sound but somewhere else”.

The play is better than the film. For me, the film failed to show the richness of sign language and how a Deaf person can live in a “silence full of sound”. The film focuses too much on deaf people using speech to get on in the hearing world, e.g. singing a song to impress hearing parents. In the film, the school is not sued by a lawyer for failing its students. James Leeds is too much of a hero in the film - his controlling nature is not highlighted.

If you are interested in exploring the topics raised in this play in more depth, I recommend that you read Harlan Lane’s ‘The Mask of Benevolence’.

[Aurora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una riflessione struggente ed emotiva sul rapporto sentimentale tra un uomo parlante e udente, con una donna sordomuta.
È molto carino, anche se, mi aspettavo, ecco, un libro con una struttura ben diversa, parlando di una tematica del genere.
A mio parere, è un controsenso scrivere un libro in cui si parla di sordomuti e farlo sottoforma di una sceneggiatura o testo teatrale, in cui il linguaggio verbale è il fulcro di tutto.
Mi aspettavo un libro, che desse più enfasi e importanza al silenzio, dandogli maggiore carica e potenza emotiva, e invece niente.
Capisco, anche il tentativo di sottolineare la preponderanza del mondo degli udenti e parlanti, che sconfina con quello di Sarah. Tuttavia, mi sarebbe piaciuto se il mondo silente di sensazioni di Sarah fosse stato delineato e descritto, almeno, in minima parte.
Poi, anche la relazione tra i due per quanto sia romantica e carina, appare un po' inverosimile e pecca quasi di credibilità, a causa di un' immediatezza cinematografica e teatrale.
Mi è parso un tentativo un po' goffo e azzardato di parlare di una tematica delicata, usando una struttura che ne contraddice appunto il senso.
Si adopera una narrazione esclusivamente basata su un linguaggio verbale, raccontando la storia d'amore con una sordomuta, be', non è un po' un controsenso?
Ho capito che si voglia far intuire, che con le mani, gli occhi e le sue gestualità Sarah comunque riesca a parlare, tuttavia, avrei preferito la storia sottoforma di romanzo vero e proprio.
Il susseguirsi di dialoghi tra i personaggi si accavallano spesso fra loro, generando confusione tra le diverse scene e salti temporali.
Forse, anche a causa di un' impaginazione concepita male, diventa frustante e irritante, questa scelta di stile.
Sicuramente, adesso, sono curiosa di vedere il film; perché, a questo punto, una storia con questa struttura dialogata, lo ritengo molto più godibile e apprezzabile sottoforma di film o di trasposizione teatrale.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It feels remarkably progressive for its time, and still is now except in one major aspect. Sarah is a fantastically complex character, extremely articulate despite everyone else wanting to speak for her (both the hearing and the Deaf community). This is her play. Like most people, she wants to be heard, and she knows that if she doesn't fight tooth and nail for her agency, others will remove it completely. Sometimes her abrasiveness causes her to be "unlikeable," but it's precisely this distance from respectability politics that makes her so engaging and such a fantastic protagonist.

The teacher-student relationship aspect feels a little cringy now. Arguably that this is just another aspect of the power dynamics between Sarah and James, intertwining with male vs. female and hearing vs. Deaf. He's meant to be a condescending male who thinks he's empowering towards others when in reality he's unconsciously regressive. From the beginning, James is quite a slimeball, especially in today's age. For example, when he kisses Sarah (without consent) after arguing and says that every other time he does that it makes things better, this feels super icky. But the play only seems to half-heartedly explore this dynamic compared to the others. There's the vague threat he could be fired for climbing into trees to sneak into the girls' barracks, but this conflict quietly fizzles away to make room for the polemic about being Deaf in the hearing world.

It's a fantastic play about code-switching between communities when they prefer you to completely assimilate to one. But a contemporary mounting will need to tread carefully with the teacher-student dynamic. I think the best way is to completely lean into the yuck, instead of trying to hide it.

[Quiver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A meditation on the boundary between the hearing and unhearing worlds. It's not your Hollywood romantic comedy, but there's romance and there's comedy.

The studies the conflicts that arise in the professional and personal relationship between a former student, Sarah Norman, and her teacher in a State School for the Deaf, James Leeds. He is thirty-ish, she is in her mid-twenties. James is enthusiastic about his job at the school and tries to teach his students to speak using humour. Sarah is in her mid-twenties and deaf from birth, she refuses to learn lip-reading, let alone to try learning how to speak; she communicates exclusively using Sign Language.

It's a unique experience reading a play, half of which is meant to be signed. Even if the poignant story doesn't touch you, I would still recommend it for the reading experience.

"SARAH. I like this best—what we can do alone together."

Saraha's line applies universally: we can and should learn to do alone, together. That's what being human, as well as, what being part of human society, is all about.

[ava hunter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not recommend reading the play, I recommend seeing it in person or watching the movie!!!! The actual story itself is beautiful; A deaf woman and a hearing man navigate a hearing world together, while the deaf woman shows the hearing man what it’s like to be deaf; what deafness and deaf culture is. It’s amazing and wonderful, and NOT A ROMANCE!!! It’s so much more then that. I recommend seeing it in person to actually get the gist of the ASL and Signed English happening in the story; without it, it’s a little lackluster. But still, interesting and witty through all.

‘Well I want to be joined to other people, but for all my life people have spoken for me: She says; she means; she wants. As if there was no I. As if there were no one in here who could understand. Until you let me be an individual, an I, just as you are, you will never truly be able to come inside my silence and know me.‘

[Olivia Thames · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found that while rereading this play, for the second time, that my view of the story and the characters in it has grown and developed into a stronger understanding of who these (written) characters are and what they truly want. It might be due to the more immersed I become in my Deaf Interpretive Services program, my American Sign Language courses, or by interacting more with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community/culture.

Either way, the experience was invigorating, both as a ASL interpreter to-be, but also a theatre kid who is always looking for a way to see a sketch of a character on a page become a three dimensional person that they could share a conversation with and learn from.

[Fransiscas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tutto ebbe inizio da questo testo teatrale del 1980, scrittura forse destinata ad essere rappresentata da qualche compagnia d'avanguardia ma che invece trova un successo internazionale con la realizzazione del film. Un tema attualissimo, quello della diversità, che ha come protagonista una ragazza non udente, estremamente intelligente e che si scontra con una società con cui non vuole scendere a compromessi. È anche una storia d'amore, l'incontro fra 2 mondi in cerca una connessione totale, attraverso un percorso di crescita in cui tutte le certezze verranno messe in discussione. Una storia difficile, emozionante e che dovrebbe porci una domanda: "Chi lo dice che il mondo dei normodotati sia il migliore a cui ambire?"

[francesca · Rating 2 out of 5]

the premise is compelling and the theme offers a meaningful look into the experiences of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. the concept would probably work even better on stage, while reading it feels a bit draining.

the characters, though promising, remain shallow and stereotypical. james is the most interesting, but his impulsiveness leads to a rushed romance: quick kisses, quick “i love you” even talk of marriage… this haste weakens the emotional impact.

the writing can be clunky at times, but never disastrously so. overall, the story has strong potential, yet it’s held back by underdeveloped characters and an overly accelerated relationship arc.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn't a book I liked until I finished it. The protagonist is unlikable, but when you view him in the context of the story and what he represents it all makes sense. I also didn't understand any of the reasons behind the romance in the play; it seems unbelievable to me right now but maybe it comes through more on stage.

[J Dubyuh]

The occasional interesting idea on deafness and then so many weird choices dramatically. The Tony’s like this type of thing though. It’s socially significant while still being sentimental and optimistic, even if it’s to the point of being dishonest or cheesy or just too easy.

The romance feels weird, the structure is weird, the whole thing has weird 80’s choices.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful play! I'd love to see it performed onstage someday. Mr. Medoff's writing is extraordinary. The copy I have is 10 pages longer, with introduction/backstory of how he created this piece, and it was a masterclass on playwriting.

[Saundra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, lyrical, moving. A must read. My sister I am close with is deaf and this book was very emotionally touching for me. People who are deaf seem to feel and be so much more aware of the beauty in life. I just found this book and I glad I did. Really lovely read.

[Sarah Wahl]

I definitely think this play has aged poorly. There are many aspects talked about that are outdated, especially the relationship between James and Sarah. I also just vehemently hate how James talks about Sarah's deafness and forces her to talk so she can assimilate into society.

[Ryan Juno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone needs to read this

[Carley Blank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Culturally important. Vital.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite liked this! I haven’t read much about the hearing impaired, in book or play form. I thought that Sarah was such a strong woman and James was awful and didn’t deserve her.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great Deaf story. Crappy love story.

[Naliza Fahro-Rozi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A telling of hearing-impaired woman's struggle for acceptance in a hearing world. As Sarah says, It is a silence full of sound.

[Simon Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two words: absolutely stunning.