Post by admin on Mar 20, 2008 4:38:21 GMT -5
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Not your standard community theater fare, Freehold's Center Players have begun an ambitious production of the play "Children of a Lesser God."
The show is a love story about Sarah Norman, a deaf woman, and James Leeds, the man who urges her to learn to speak.
The pair, who work at a school for the deaf, initially clash, but then fall in love. That love is tested by their differences, but in the end, there is the promise that "love and compassion hold the hope of reconciliation."
"At it's basic level, (the play) is about relationships," says Chris Chandonnet, who portrays James.
The play, written by Mark Medoff, was a success when it ran on Broadway between 1980 and 1982. It rose to further acclaim in 1986 when it was adapted into a film that earned its star, deaf actress Marlee Matlin, an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Charlie Fraser, who directs the Center Players' version, remembers being struck when he saw the play 24 years ago as a theater major at Sam Houston State University in Texas.
"I fell in love with (it)," says Fraser, who lives in Freehold. "I just thought it was such a beautiful play."
Camille L. Lorello, who lives in Freehold Township, also was affected by the play when it came out nearly 30 years ago.
Herself deaf, Lorello portrayed the character Lydia in the play's Broadway National Tour production in 1980. When asked whether she would consider advising the Center Players on their production, she instead jumped at the chance to audition for the role of Sarah.
"This play came back full circle for me," Lorello said, whose signs were translated by interpreters Maria Kodopidis of Beachwood and Donna Sanford of Brick.
Growing up deaf, Lorello said she identified with Sarah's rebellion against the hearing world.
When she was a child in the 1970s, sign language was not allowed in her school, she remembers.
"The hearing people were always deciding what was best for them (deaf people)," Lorello signed. "There was always an argument."
While "Children of a Lesser God" seeks to challenge the audience's conceptions about the deaf, it also has proved to be something of a challenge for the actors involved.
Five volunteer sign-language coaches worked with the cast during pre-production as they learned their speaking lines as well as many lines in sign language. A speech pathologist also taught actors Matt Dubrow of Oceanport and Tracy Hassel of Manalapan, who play hard-of-hearing characters, how to speak as if they actually were hard of hearing.
On top of rehearsals, Chandonnet, of Millstone Township, said he would regularly clock in 30 hours per week learning his sign language lines.
"I didn't know the mountain we would have to climb," Chandonnet said.
But Center Players has long had a history of spotlighting communities that do not always get a lot of attention, so those involved had few qualms about the play.
"This (deaf culture) is another culture that lives among us that most of us know little about," said theater trustee Bob Szita of Manalapan.
Through the experience of creating this play, those involved said they gained a newfound appreciation for deaf culture. They hope that appreciation translates to the audiences as well.
That culture has become more accepted since Lorello's first experience with the show, she said.
Now she can sign in public and people are interested, rather than being turned off, she said. She hopes this play will help further the public's acceptance of her culture.
"Maybe people, when they leave here (the theater), become more aware and they have more respect," she said.
Not your standard community theater fare, Freehold's Center Players have begun an ambitious production of the play "Children of a Lesser God."
The show is a love story about Sarah Norman, a deaf woman, and James Leeds, the man who urges her to learn to speak.
The pair, who work at a school for the deaf, initially clash, but then fall in love. That love is tested by their differences, but in the end, there is the promise that "love and compassion hold the hope of reconciliation."
"At it's basic level, (the play) is about relationships," says Chris Chandonnet, who portrays James.
The play, written by Mark Medoff, was a success when it ran on Broadway between 1980 and 1982. It rose to further acclaim in 1986 when it was adapted into a film that earned its star, deaf actress Marlee Matlin, an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Charlie Fraser, who directs the Center Players' version, remembers being struck when he saw the play 24 years ago as a theater major at Sam Houston State University in Texas.
"I fell in love with (it)," says Fraser, who lives in Freehold. "I just thought it was such a beautiful play."
Camille L. Lorello, who lives in Freehold Township, also was affected by the play when it came out nearly 30 years ago.
Herself deaf, Lorello portrayed the character Lydia in the play's Broadway National Tour production in 1980. When asked whether she would consider advising the Center Players on their production, she instead jumped at the chance to audition for the role of Sarah.
"This play came back full circle for me," Lorello said, whose signs were translated by interpreters Maria Kodopidis of Beachwood and Donna Sanford of Brick.
Growing up deaf, Lorello said she identified with Sarah's rebellion against the hearing world.
When she was a child in the 1970s, sign language was not allowed in her school, she remembers.
"The hearing people were always deciding what was best for them (deaf people)," Lorello signed. "There was always an argument."
While "Children of a Lesser God" seeks to challenge the audience's conceptions about the deaf, it also has proved to be something of a challenge for the actors involved.
Five volunteer sign-language coaches worked with the cast during pre-production as they learned their speaking lines as well as many lines in sign language. A speech pathologist also taught actors Matt Dubrow of Oceanport and Tracy Hassel of Manalapan, who play hard-of-hearing characters, how to speak as if they actually were hard of hearing.
On top of rehearsals, Chandonnet, of Millstone Township, said he would regularly clock in 30 hours per week learning his sign language lines.
"I didn't know the mountain we would have to climb," Chandonnet said.
But Center Players has long had a history of spotlighting communities that do not always get a lot of attention, so those involved had few qualms about the play.
"This (deaf culture) is another culture that lives among us that most of us know little about," said theater trustee Bob Szita of Manalapan.
Through the experience of creating this play, those involved said they gained a newfound appreciation for deaf culture. They hope that appreciation translates to the audiences as well.
That culture has become more accepted since Lorello's first experience with the show, she said.
Now she can sign in public and people are interested, rather than being turned off, she said. She hopes this play will help further the public's acceptance of her culture.
"Maybe people, when they leave here (the theater), become more aware and they have more respect," she said.