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March 16, 2004
Section: CNY
Edition: Final
Page: E4
Column: Joan Vadeboncoeur

It is rare that yuletide entertainment veers from the light and airy. Appleseed Productions has taken the risk of mounting "Children of a Lesser God," which probes the world of the deaf. Happily, it has paid off. Sunday's matinee was sold to the walls. The company deserves praise for taking the gamble, as well as the top-notch work that has resulted.

Not that the subject is without humor. Act 1 of Mark Medoff's play is rife with laughs as speech therapist James Leeds tries to conquer his stubborn patient Sarah Norman. She enjoys taunting him and, luckily, he has his own highly developed, quirky sense of humor. Love blossoms; marriage follows.

Act 2 finds the playwright in an aggressive mood as James battles his bride and others to learn to speak, as well as sign and lip-read, to broaden their world. The flip side argues that Leeds' struggles are needless.

Medoff flavors his piece with Sarah's mother, a bitter woman rejected by her daughter despite attempts to aid her, a deaf counselor who is adamantly opposed to Leeds, the good-humored but pragmatic head of the school for the deaf, and a student who flaunts the rules and flirts with Leeds.

Joe Pierce as Leeds hasn't had such a meaty role in years, perhaps ever. He captures the character's humor, passion, frustration and vulnerability in his fine, sensitive performance. Opposite him, Sarah Dadey gives her character the required fire, fun and intractability that Medoff intended.

There also is excellent support from Tom Ciancaglini as the chief protagonist for the non-speaking faction, Douglas Walls as head of the deaf school, Pat Stone as Sarah's conflicted mother, and Natalie Galvin as the flirtatious student.

Sharee Lemos, who first staged the play in 1983, obviously savors the work. She also knows that a first-rate piece and an equally first-rate cast don't require realistic sets. Within her black-box stage are only a level or two and a few props. Lighting also contributes as it focuses on the specific playing areas while darkening the rest of the stage.

The production plays its final performances at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday on the stage of Atonement Lutheran Church.

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