students. Jackson warmed in her delivery of
“ Christmas is a Feeling," and provided a
nicely complementary harmonic addition to
the Chorus's later offerings with her rich and
yet somehow delicate voice.
“Children of a Lesser
G od" opens at IFCC
The production of the Christmas concert
was simple and unpretentious, yet effective.
Instrumental accompaniment was spare but
excellently executed. There were several oc
casions where solo performances, both vocal
and instrumental, should have been accorded
more amplification, but this wasn't a major
problem. The lighting effects provided a nice
touch and were on several occasions rather
striking and colorful, but were never mysteri
ously complex. The final setting was pleas
antly forested and tiered, and set up amaz
ingly quickly.
The IFCC proudly announces me him
locally-produced performances of Mark
Medoff s Tony Award winning play. Children
o f a Lesser God. playing January 4-27 at the
IFCC. 5340 M. Interstate Avenue. Portland.
This deeply moving, beautifully written
comedy-drama details the romance, conflicts
and marriage of a sensitive but spirited deaf
woman and the devoted [and hearing)
teacher whom she meets at a school for the
deaf. Mew York critics also gave the Outer
Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards to this
play, calling it “ a major event, a play of great
importance, full of love, understanding and
passion.”
The audience’s empathy with the per
formers was especially evident when, on sev
eral occasions when members of the chorus
had to move the bleacher platform up or
down the stage floor, they applauded good-
naturedly. The atmosphere for the evening
was one of pleasant camaraderie, and the
points at where the seams of the production
showed only served to strengthen the bonds
between the performers and the audience.
This sense of community reached a sym
bolic climax with the performance by the
Chorus of "Do You Hear What I Hear?" with
the moving sign language accompaniment
of Steven Poole, and then reached its true
culmination in the — too-short, it seemed —
Christmas Sing-Along finale. Following a
Chorus Christmas medley, the effect was of a
musical whirlwind, with only a verse or so of
each song. Couldn't the magic have lasted
longer? But all things must come to an end.
Curiously, of the local media, only the Ore
gonian was at all sensitive to the momen
tousness of an openly gay organization
performing at such an event.
When the Mew York touring company of
Children o f a Lesser God came through
Portland a few years ago, it played four
performances in the cavernous Civic Audi
torium.
Many who saw it had difficulty seeing and/
or hearing both the spoken and signed lang
uage. and were disappointed by the lack of
intimacy and immediacy of the performance.
The IFCC's theatre space seats only 100
persons with excellent sightlines, guarantee
ing a comfortable, first-hand theatre experi
ence for all audience members, hearing-
impaired and otherwise.
Children o f a Lesser God features a
unique collaboration of Portland area theatre
artists. Rollie WulfT will direct the production,
in consultation with Henry Stack of Van
couver's Morthwest Theatre of the Deaf, and
Mark Azure of Deaf Arts Council of Oregon.
Timothy Gero is Assistant Director/lnter-
preter. The leading roles of a speech therapist
and the totally deaf student who becomes his
photo by Jason Lynch
Sam M owry a n d Georgi Randall in C h ild re n o f a Lesser G o d .
wife will be played by Sam A. Mowry and
Georgi Randall, a deaf actress who has
worked with Morthwest Theatre of the Deaf.
Completing the cast are Jeff Miller, Betty
Brooks and Michele Mariana (both of whom
have worked extensively with MW Theatre of
the Deaf), and Sara Yerkes and Gary Holden,
both of whom are hearing-impaired actors
playing deaf characters. Scene and lighting
design is by Jason Matthew Lynch.
Performances of Children o f a Lesser God
are at 8:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and
2:00 p.m. Sundays, January 4-27. Tickets are
$6 regular and $4 students and seniors. A ll
performances will be accessible for both
hearing and deaf audiences, as much of the
dialogue is both signed and spoken by the
characters themselves, and interpreters will
sign all dialogue that is spoken only.
This production is made possible in part
by a generous grant from the Collins Founda
tion. Call Sue Busby or Gary O'Brien at the
IFCC. 243-7930, for reservations for further
information. This number is TTY accessible.
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