CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD (2018) Previews — Page 2

I havent seen this production yet, but I'm a big fan of the piece itself - so looking forward to it quite a bit. Although, I admit, these less than stellar early reviews, have taken a bit of the air out of my sails.



And of course, not everyone felt as you did-- the play ran for nearly 2 years originally, which is quite successful for a play.

Updated On: 3/25/18 at 11:41 AM

South Fl Marc said: "I'm really surprised this show is being revived. I saw the original production and the only thing that blew me away was the performance by Ms Freilich.. The details about the play I forgot about a month after I saw it, which shows how memorable it was. If I remember the script at all, this would be better suited nowadays as a Hallmark or Lifetime movie(not a compliment). I do love reading your comments on the production though as I have no interest in seeing it."

I saw the original production as well, and Marc's response is only marginally more negative than mine. I don't usually think in terms of Tony Award competitions, but Talley's Folly and Judd Hirsch should have won the awards that went to Children of a Lesser God and John Rubinstein back in 1980. Children of a Lesser God did run four times as long as Talley's Folly, so I guess most people disagreed. And Phyllis Frelich was wonderful in it, to be sure. I remember preferring her performance to Marlee Matlin's in the film several years later.

I sat in the rear mezz for act one yesterday. It felt a bit far away but not too bad. I moved to the front mezz section for act 2 and it was a definitely a lot better. You should be fine.

Updated On: 3/25/18 at 01:06 PM

WhizzerMarvin said: "I originally had tickets for Iceman Cometh tonight, but after that first preview cancelation I was able to go to Children or a Lesser God instead.

We have had a spate of revivals of award winning plays from the ‘80s/early 90s. After seeing the most recent incarnations of these shows it’s hard to believe how long the originals actually ran: The Real Thing (566), M. Butterfly (777), The Heidi Chronicles (622), Six Degrees of Separation (485) and lastly Children of a Lesser God (887).

Most of these won Best Play and were obviously commercial successes too. And yet, the revivals have all been major bombs, both critically and commercially (if Roundabout’s The Real Thing had been a commercial production it would have closed in a month).

It’s hard to know whether the plays have aged badly or the revivals simply stank; in reality it’s probably a combination of the two, and Children of a Lesser God I fear will follow in the footsteps of its fellow one-time hits.

I thought John McGinty, who plays Orin, was the most interesting character of the play now and the plot only seems to lurch forward when he’s onstage, which is sadly not too often.

Lauren Ridloff is great too and would have the potential to be phenomenal if placed in a better production with a livelier leading man.

Joshua Jackson is the weak link here. I know it’s just the first preview (after a run in Berkshires for most of the cast?), but the spoken portions of the play are essentially a 2.5 hour monologue for Jackson. He has to speak all of his lines, plus Ridloff’s lines AND there are super titles so we’ll all know if he screws up. He impressively has the words down, but his voice was so monotone in act one that it almost put me to sleep. Mike Baldassari’s lighting design is mostly dark blues and purples, which while pretty, can aid in lulling one into slumber!

Jackson perked up a bit in act two and the final confrontation is admittedly still moving, but it’s a long 2.5 hours to get to that little bit of payoff.

Kenny Leon is going to have to crack the whip, get the actors to pick up the pace and light a few sparks on stage.

I will say it was nice to see a diverse Broadway audience and a diverse cast on stage- still all too rare on both counts- but as much as I would like to rave about this production for these reasons the product isn’t good enough to warrant it."



I have to admit that I have no interest in seeing this production. The key reason is because I did not think it was a good play the first time around. I think there was so much admiration for casting a deaf leading lady that the critics forgot to notice that the play wasn't very good. I only saw it once, but I remember being underwhelmed with the story and bored fairly frequently. I have to admit that I had the same reaction to the original production of M Butterfly. It was impeccably directed and the design was beautiful, but the play itself was just not good. In the pantheon of bad images is the late scene where John Lithgow appeared at the end of the play in the full Japanese costume; instead of feeling empathetic towards the character, i could only reflect on how ridiculous Lithgow looked. Any dramatic tension was los for met.

I did love the original Real Thing and the revival with Stephen Dilate and Jennifer Ehle...I think a bad production of The Real Thing is just that...a bad production of a solid play. I loved the original production of The Heidi Chronicles, but have concluded that the play was simply of its time and has not aged well. The last production was further hindered by the fact that the cast did not measure up to the original cast. Loved the original production of 6 Degrees, disliked the last one. Still can't figure out why, but will admit that I have never liked Alison Janney.

It will be interesting to see what highly acclaimed plays of recent years will stand the test of time.

Let's put this into a little perspective: He didn't learn the language. He learned how to make it look as IF he knew a language. I'm sure he took some classes on it (private or otherwise) - and maybe even MANY clases, but what he learned is really more like learning choreography. I doubt that he could actually communicate to a deaf person outside of his script....other than rudementary conversation. Who else would do this? LOTS and lots of actors. John Rubinstein and William Hurt for two. Meryl Streep learned Polish for Sophie's Choice. (I thought she learned two - but cannot verify.) Anyone playing Pierre (Natasha, Pierre...) needed to learn the accordian.

Some actors have learned languages, sports, musical instruments; closely observed police work, surgery: not that they ARE those things, but they've learned a better understanding so they can fake it. It's called research and any actor worth their salt would do the same.

At the end of the day (or performance) the only thing that matters is the whole: did the performances, direction and script WORK. How much prep went into it is't part of that equation.

AGAIN: I'm looking forward to seeing this later this month, but let's not pretend "sacrifice" has been made, it's an actor's job.

I saw the show last evening. I truly enjoyed myself. The play - as written- is an intriguing look at the themes in which the playwright is asking us to explore. It's set in the late 70's/ early 80's (approximately) but I did not feel it was "out dated" or "slow" due to this. The core thematic elements of the story are relevant and timeless, and we watch the relationships evolve (and unravel) due to the interpersonal obstacles they face.

The entire cast did a stellar job. Their timing and chemistry with each other was on-point.

Lauren was superb! I really think a "new star is born" and if she chooses to work more, I hope she continues to rise. I can't say enough about her presence and performance. Just stellar.

Lauren and Joshua's chemistry was palpable and perfectly paired. As for Jackson himself, he did very fine work. I commend him for his usage of the sign language, all of which were fluid and effortless. Granted, I don't sign, so he made a believer out of me. I do see what others were saying about his tone of voice, or rather the way in which he spoke his dialogue. I do feel this was a "choice" and for what is essentially all dialogue for his character, it's really like a giant monologue for the entire show. So many wonderful, raw emotional moments. Again, he did great work.

I hope this receives good word of mouth, let alone descent reviews. This play needs to be seen.

Updated On: 4/11/18 at 07:19 PM

dramamama611 said: "Let's put this into a little perspective: He didn't learn the language. He learned how to make it look as IF he knew a language. I'm sure he took some classes on it (private or otherwise) - and maybe even MANY clases, but what he learned is really more like learning choreography. I doubt that he could actually communicate to a deaf person outside of his script....other than rudementary conversation. Who else would do this? LOTS and lots of actors. John Rubinstein and William Hurt for two. Meryl Streep learned Polishfor Sophie's Choice. (I thought she learned two - but cannot verify.) Anyone playing Pierre (Natasha, Pierre...) needed to learn the accordian.

Some actors have learned languages, sports, musical instruments; closely observed police work, surgery: not that they ARE those things, but they've learned a better understanding so they can fake it. It's called research and any actor worth their salt would do the same.

At the end of the day (or performance) the only thing that matters is the whole: did the performances, direction and script WORK. How much prep went into it is't part of that equation.

AGAIN: I'm looking forward to seeing this later this month, but let's not pretend "sacrifice" has been made, it's an actor's job."

I hardly ever post on here, but I did want to let you know that Joshua actually can communicate with Lauren and the other deaf actors. Its a beautiful thing to watch, in no way did he just learn the lines in the script, he had to build a trust with Lauren and to do that he has to be able to communicate with her off stage. He can do that and its wonderful to see.

I saw this yesterday as well. I thought Lauren Ridloff deserves all the praise for this. She is giving a wonderful performance in this production. I was also very impressed with John McGinty as Orin. Deaf talent really is out there and I wish we could see more.

I've never seen the play before (I've seen the film) and the thing I was startled by the most is how the struggles in the Deaf community and the hearing world's perspective of Deaf people haven't changed a whole lot since 1980. There is still this stigma, an idea of disadvantage, and a total misconception of what life is like for Deaf people.

Joshua Jackson is given the hardest task in the play, and that is to be the speaking voice of both James and Sarah. Speaking while signing is a difficult thing to do; it's literally communicating in two languages at once. I think he's doing an admirable job, but it seems a bit labored and I didn't really see his character's arc. I think he has time to get his footing. He's nearly there. And yes, if he can sign the entire show, he can certainly converse with his castmates backstage. This is not like learning four hand positions on guitar so you can be cast in a production of Once.

I did not get the physical production at all. I think it might as well have been a bare stage. I did, however, appreciate the visible supertitles throughout (even if at times they were off). I'm all for accessibility in theatre and this was a simple, clean, and clear way to integrate the spoken dialogue for Deaf and HH audiences.

All but two in the cast are making their Broadway debuts, so it's exciting to see great work done by fresh (to NY) talent. Also, to see a majority of the cast (four out of seven) made up of people of color, especially to see them playing roles typically played by white actors, is astounding and commendable. I saw a much more racially mixed audience as a result. It just goes to show that diversity in theatre (onstage, offstage, people of color, Deaf talent, etc.) will bring diversity of audience.

This item from today's Times captures what I liked about it in the Berkshires:

NY Times Shows to See

saw it last night. Whizzer is spot on.

The show is a major clunker. Jackson seems lost onstage. The Direction is a mess. It seems like everyone is wandering around all the time, crossing back and forth and around and nothing felt purposeful. Lighting was a mess, Set was bleh.

The play felt incredibly dated. LOVED the diverse casting. But In a play where the entire POINT was about this young woman finding her own voice and not having someone speak for her, they had a white male speak for her the ENTIRE show.

Why couldnt the supertitles TRANSLATE the sign language for the audience? Jackson did ALL the translating, basically repeating everything she said to him.

it was poorly written, directed, acted, and designed.... don't waste your time.