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Show I C The Salt Lake Tribune, Thursday, November II, 1082 iwwsfe i - i Mark Medoffs Children makes world a little richer By Nancy Funk Tribune Staff Writer There is a man who lives not far from this Utah Las Cruces, New Mexico to be exact His community name is Mark Medoff. It doesnt matter that you've never met him. There are certain things that are apparent about him without a personal introduction, most important; A few years ago he had a desire to make the world a richer place and he did it in the best way he knew how. He wrote a play about listening. In a sense it was a love story for a woman and a man he met in 1977. She was deaf He could hear. Medoff railed the tribute, Children of a Lesser God, after a poem by Tennyson. He wanted to open up a door to yet another minority. No, not that of the deaf community, but rather the world of people who truly communicate with one another. He found that rare commodity in abundance in these two people, Phyllis Frelich and her husband, Bob Steinberg. His tribute to them has been loudly applauded on both coasts and now, two years after receiving the 1980 Tony award for Best Play of the Year, Utah audiences have the opportunity to learn for themselves about children who some say were made by a lesser god. In this case, those children are not the ones born deaf but rather those of us who fail to accept the world as it is the lesser god is the person who wants to play god, the person who forces another to do things his way rather than looking for the beauty in the differences. James Leeds is a fully hearing speech teacher. He believes in what he docs and is not condescending to his deaf students. He is however of the mind that to lead a "normal life, one must speak. Sarah, one of his students, does not hear. She has never heard, at least not in the literal sense of that word. She does not want to speak because she doesnt like doing anything she doesnt do well. We, those of us who hear, are different to her. She says she can write with her fingers faster than we can speak with our mouths. Her brain understands a lot, her eyes are her ears, her hands, her voice and my ability to communicate is as great as yours, maybe greater because I can communicate in one image an idea more complex than you can speak to one another in 50 intelligence of someone who is considered different. Sarah, being deaf, is symbolic of the female side in all humans that side that hears an intuitive language but often ridiculed because of it. The male side does not understand and tries to negate that growth. The voice however is so strong it will not be silenced and persists until it finds a soul to connect with, one that will understand, nourish and accept. James is symbolic, for lack of a better word, of the the person who wrestles with age male authority and ego, but who has come in touch with his own vulnerability, and through the reinforcement of a new woman he loves as well as greatly admires, opens up to become more of a total person. The evenly balanced, simply designed production, carried a strong sense of unity between this fine ensemble of performers. Charles Jones and Janice students with Jo Farweli Coles portray the as Sarahs mother. Roger Serbagi is the schools director with Mimi Bensinger as the attorney who files the discrimation suit. Jonathan Lee restaged this exceptionally fine international touring company production from a concept by director Gordon Davidson. It will continue through Sunday at the Capitol Theatre. g I words." She longs to connect with another person but says she will not until we let her be an individual, until we let there be an "I." It is impossible to watch this magnificent, exhausting evening of theater without responding to it. Medoff has broken down a few walls and formed some bridges. The obvious one, of course, is that of getting us to look at people unlike ourselves with a wider lens. Through humor, drama, honesty and passion directly from the heart, Medoff offers a play that causes audiences to respond not to the technical aspects of theater, but rather the emotional ones. In his play he writes three parts for deaf actors and four for hearing performers, the logic perhaps being that it takes more "normal" people to keep up with the (CsaMeTW as am the move better serve our customers emid confining TV of Utah is moving space limitations, Community All cable subscribers doing its Salt Lake operations. business with the Wilmington Avenue office should note our new (( ) phone number and address, effective November J2: To W West 4 3575 SoWest Valley City Baiso 3 DAYS ONLY LAY-AWA- ACCEPTED YS A lETTOR MEAL ron ODYSSEY II VIDEO GAME " u u'.'jt.V 119 omr 12" BLACK & WHITE TELEVISION 8 HOUR VIDEO RECORDER cartridges as low as $14.95 99 ONLY 25" COLOR TV $549 ONLY 9" COMPLETE VIDEO PACKAGE AC-D- C COLOR TELEVISION $ ONLY 299 Includes Recorder Camera and DC Power Converter 25" COLOR TV with Electronic Tuning $1395 ONLY YOU SAVE OVER 6001 599 25" COLOR TV Double Speakers The ultimate In Video Recorders and Cameras 599 ONLY SAVE OVER 25" The COMPLETE PORTABLE VIDEO PACKAGE $700 REMOTE COLOR TV $699 19" COLOR TELEVISION with Electronic Tuning $' 349 ONLY Single (king) and double rooms cost only $49.95 COMPONENT a night on weekends at the new Salt Lake Marriott! 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