Last Sunday (my, how the unblogged days go by!), Mer and I met up with Aunt Mary at Weathervane Playhouse in Akron to see Children of a Lesser God. Neither Mer nor I knew much of anything about the play. We had a colleague acting in the play (he was the one who told me about the production), and he had let me know that it was a play about deaf people at a school for the deaf. That was everything I knew about the play.

Without giving too much away, the play focuses on a teacher at the school who can hear, and a 24-year-old deaf woman who works at the school who has refused to learn to speak. They do eventually fall in love and marry. The play tells their story and the stories of a few people around them.

The set of the play was simple, but it worked – a few platforms and a chalkboard were enough to portray a classroom, a house, an office, a living room, and more.

The acting was fine, and the play was signed as well – either the actors signed themselves, or, for a few of the minor roles, onstage interpreters signed for the actors. I love sign language – it is a beautiful and elegant way to communicate, and it added to the production.

My only complaint about the play was not the production – it was the play itself. I found that I did not get into the two main characters; they were not bad people, but I just found that I did not sympathize with them. I’m not even sure why – my best guess is that both characters were strong and stubborn, and it frustrated me that their problems largely came out of that.

On the plus side, it did make me think about the deaf and how they communicate. One of the issues of the play was asking if the deaf should have to learn to read lips and learn to speak so they can communicate with the hearing world. It is an interesting question, and at least for me, I answer it with the same view as when people want to force immigrants to learn English. I don’t think the deaf should be forced to learn to speak (and I don’t think immigrants should be forced to learn English), but I do think they have to be prepared for the consequences. The deaf should not expect the hearing to learn sign language any more than Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, etc. speakers should expect most Americans to learn other languages to communicate. If a deaf person wants to only know sign language, that is fine, but that person needs to realize that most of society will be closed off by that choice.

So, it was a worthwhile afternoon, if only to make me think more about the challenges deaf people face every day.