Signing adds to play's accessibility
The Hong Kong Repertory Theatre has made Children of a Lesser God accessible to deaf people through the services of a signer on stage, appropriate for a drama which centres on problems of the hearing and speech impaired.
Performed in Putonghua, the play explores the clash of two worlds that only understanding and mutual respect can bridge.
Set in a school for the deaf, it revolves around a young enthusiastic male teacher, James and his deaf female student, a problem pupil who refuses to learn to speak.
Teacher and student fall in love and eventually get married but the relationship ends in acrimony.
Sarah leaves her husband, rejecting his sympathy and his attempts to make her speak, which she sees as an attempt to make her into someone she isn't.
The set by Anthony Chan was simple and abstract and cleverly complemented the dialogue - the most essential element of the play.
The role of James is highly complicated; an over-protective husband who wants to share and understand his wife's agony but who is somehow incapable of reaching her. He has to be enthusiastic, playful, romantic and guilt-ridden. As James, Chan Chit-man's delivery had a tendency to be too straightforward, lacking in the variation needed to reflect changing inner emotions.
Kung Siu-ling played Sarah with great conviction and subtlety. He Yingqiong was a convincing mother able to portray a woman who both loves her daughter and yet is unable to communicate with her. Liu Dong as Allen, was satisfactory but his youthful appearance detracted from his attempted portrait of a fiery political leader waging an uncompromising legal battle against the head of the deaf school.
Hung Ying-hei as Lydia was hilarious and delivered much needed comic relief with great success.
Daniel Yang's direction succeeded in bringing this powerful text to life, but in the end, there were no surprises.
Children of a Lesser God, Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre Theatre, until July 6
