Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1985)
* ** Play Review ‘Children of a Lesser God’ breathes second life D. Dietrich Of The Print A new home has been found for the locally produced performances of Mark Medoff’s Tony Award-winning play “Children of a Lesser God.’’The production was moved from the needed space of the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center to the rustic upstairs of the Sumus Theater in Portland, in an attempt to satiate the appetites of theater-goers who created sell-out crowds during the first running of the play. The story is a compassionate yet harsh comedy-drama which details the stormy rela tionship between a highly spirited deaf woman and the devoted, if not idealistic, teacher whom she meets at a school for the deaf. The relation ship goes from one of mutual resentment to understanding and eventually love and mar riage, even though their surroundings offer lit tle support for them. There is a strong conflict between the hearing world and the deaf world and what role the ability of speech plays in the integration of the two. The cast for the second run is the same as the original and is comprised of a unique collabora tion of Portland area theater artists. Director Rollie Wulff worked in consultation with Henry Stack of Vancouver’s Northwest Theater of the Deaf and Mark Azure of Deaf Arts Council of Oregon. Sam Mowry plays the inspiring role of the speech therapist who displays biting intolerance and sensitivety to the other characters. Mowry has a firm hold on his character and doesn’t slip for a moment with the addition of sign language, even when the pace quickens. . .Mowry’s character has a wit that plays off of the tragic situations but doesn’t hide behind it. In fact it is this comic flair which enables him to cross into the silent and unfeeling world of Jamie, played by Georgi Randall. In an award deserving performance, Randall brings out all the emotion one could hope for without using the luxury of speech. Randall is a deaf actress with the Northwest Theater of the Deaf and has a flair for the dramatic. She seems to feel at home in this role as she effortlessly brings the audience completely into her world. Her character has shut out the hearing world and prefers to not make any effort to communicate through reading lips or a handicapped speech. For this she is considered uncooperative and a problem student. Among the collection of unique qualities about the play is the striking feature of the use of signing interpreters for the spoken roles as well as voices added to the signed conversa tions. The remarkable fluency and unob trusiveness of the technique is not to be understated. When the New York company of “Children of a Lesser God” came through Portland it played at the Civic Auditorium. Those jn the back rows or off to the sides had difficulty hearing the spoken language and see ing the signed language. The need for intimacy is vital to the success and effectiveness of the play. Fortunately (for once), the Sumus Theater is quite limited in seating capacity. Performance dates and times vary during the play’s second running, so contact the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (where the play was originally performed) or the Sumus Theater at 1313 N. W. Burnside for specific information. Tickets are $8 general admission, $6 students. Free parking is available. Speech competitors receive awards at national meet i Heidi Mosier and Marty Yost each won third-place honors at the National Jr. Col lege Speech Tournament held earlier this month in Stockton, Calif., marking an important accomplishment > in their educational careers as well as giving Clackamas Community College a star on its record. Accompanied by qualifying team members Jennifer Hanel and Linda Kuntz, as well as coach Frank Harlow, the team spent the week of competition at the Stockton Hilton Hotel with more than 600 speech students from 70 junior col leges in the nation. “The competition was tough,” Mosier said, who cap tured her trophy with a per suasive speech on the dangers of cholesterol. She added she was surprised at how suppor tive the competitors were. She recalled one round during the five-day event when the au dience would clap for the speaker before they started just to give them a boost. “Because it was so intense, you needed it,” she said. Yost carried a double load with his winning prose inter- pretation of a humorous piece titled J‘The Sensuous Angler” as well as competing with Kuntz in a dramatic duo inter pretation. Yost agreed the competition was rough. “Peo ple would try to psych you out,” he said. The team killed a lot of spare time in 85-degree weather by taking advantage of the pool and health spa made available to them. Coach Harlow is proud of the success of his team at the national event, as he said, “It means much more than it did three or four years ago.” Due to the increasing budget cuts, Harlow said, “You have to really justify sending so meone.” That meant the skill level had to be higher than in the past. The ability to qualify for the tournament is in itself a reason to celebrate, but placing third out of the best of those in the country is a memory definitely worth holding on to. Neither Mosier or Yost appear to have let it inflate their egos. As Mosier humbly said, “It was a good experience.” Registration opens for art fair Professional and non professional artists and craft speople are invited to register for the 22nd Annual Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts. The festival consists of three major divisions, the main art show, one-man exhibits in of fices and stores and an arts and crafts fair. The festival will be held June 21, 22, and 23 at the Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State Street in Lake Oswego. For more information and registration forms, call Dee Denton, Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce, 636-3634. Speech team members Heidi Mosier and Marty contributing factor in competitions is the in-, Yost agreed that the competitive level was high dividual preferences of judges. at the national tournament but noted that a c.c.c Wed., April 17 CAFETERIA DAILY SPECIALS Mexican Casserole With Refried Beans $1.50 Thurs., April 18 Pork Chow Mein $1.50 Fri., April 19 Polish Sausage With Kraut $1.50 Mon., April 22 Hot Beef Sandwich With Whip Potatoes $1.50 Tues., April 23 Link Sausage With Scalloped Potatoes $1.50 Page 5 Wednesday, April 17, 1985 Colors by Munsell Color Servit»«
