Like thousands of Tri-Cities residents on race weekend, Libby Tipton’s family opened their home to a visitor. However, Tipton’s friend came to hunt turkeys instead of tickets, because he had recently learned to “call” them. He just needed someone to let him know when the wild birds called back because Tipton’s friend is deaf.
The notion of a person who is deaf calling a turkey may be surprising to those in the hearing world. And, Tipton said, surprises like that are what can be found in the upcoming play Children of a Lesser God, presented as a partnership between East Tennessee State University’s Division of Theatre and Silent Bucs organization.
Written by Mark Medoff, the play details the romance and marriage of a sensitive, spirited deaf girl and the devoted, hearing teacher whom she meets at a school for the deaf where she is employed as custodian.
Tipton serves as the director of interpretation for the play, which is directed by Bobby Funk, director of theater at ETSU.
“I couldn’t have done it without Libby and the people at Disability Services,” Funk said. “Libby has really put a lot into this play. She is the assistant director and she is responsible for the sign language. In a lot of ways she is a ‘dramaturge’ for the deaf. She asks, ‘Is that the best sign for this word?'”
Tipton, who is the lead interpreter in ETSU’s Disability Services, admits working with the play has been quite difficult at times.
“The biggest challenge for me as an interpreter of the script was to try to reflect it as accurately as possible,” said Tipton, who is American Sign Language-certified and grew up in a family with deaf relatives, including her parents and grandparents. “As the hearing character James becomes more involved with [Sarah], his signing changes.”
Though the play and the subsequent film version feature a love story, romance is not the central point to be made.
“The movie kind of glossed over the plot and made it a love story and that was pretty much it,” Funk said. “But that’s not what the play is about. I think the play asks the question, ‘Is love enough?’ These two people are madly in love with each other, but they are from two totally different worlds. No matter how hard (James) tries he cannot understand the deaf world. And no matter how hard (Sarah) tries she will never fit into the hearing world.”
“This play is more about differences in culture than abilities and disabilities,” Tipton said. “It’s about celebrating the cultures and differences. I think we will be better if we can focus on the individual first and the disabilities and abilities second.”
The play also touches on the topic of pity in the lives of the deaf and hard of hearing. “Whatever difference another person has, I can’t think of them as, ‘Oh pity them. They are children of a lesser god,'” Funk said. “They are my equal and maybe my better. The play keeps saying over and over, ‘We don’t want pity. Don’t feel sorry for me.’ But at the same time, it says, ‘I deserve some rights and some understanding.'”
Tipton echoed those comments as well, mentioning that though there has been progress in the treatment of the deaf and hard of hearing, there is still room for more understanding.
Funk decided to address that need by working with the Silent Bucs, an ETSU organization for students and alumni who are interested in deaf and hard of hearing issues. Tipton serves as their adviser.
“What that did was bring deaf and hard of hearing students into the production who never would have thought about being in a play,” Funk said. “Last semester we had a class, ‘Signing for Performance,’ that Libby and I did. Everyone in the cast took that class. In a lot of the productions of this play, the actors are not deaf and they don’t know sign language.”
In ETSU’s production, four of the actors and stage crew are deaf or hard of hearing, while there are six hearing actors. “This has been a great experience for the Silent Bucs because it gave them leadership opportunities,” Tipton said. “They were not depending on somebody else, but they had others depending on them.”
In an attempt to promote more understanding for the audience, Funk decided to incorporate “shadows” into the play.
“A shadow is a step beyond an interpreter,” Funk said. “The shadow is actually a character who follows someone on stage, and, as the person speaks, the shadow signs. And I’ve gone a step further with ‘speaking’ shadows. So that if a character signs the shadow speaks.
“We picked this up from a group from Knoxville called InterAct. It’s a children’s theatre company, and every production they do is signed. They came in last semester and did a workshop with our actors on shadowing.”
With all the challenges and complexities that this play presented, Funk said this was the hardest thing he ever worked on.
For Tipton, working on this play has been extremely rewarding. “I see ETSU as a frontrunner not just for academics, but for social life, too,” said Tipton, who also serves as the director of shadowing.
“Harvard professor Richard Light wrote that college students’ biggest life-changing and eye-opening events were outside of the classroom. Working with this play has definitely been an eye-opener for me and the students, as well. The theatre is so close to what I do for a living as an interpreter.”
Funk is confident that audiences will find Children of a Lesser God to be an exciting and entertaining play. He added that the play is not for young children, as it deals with some adult situations.
It features an ensemble of nine actors and shadows. Lyle Martson performs the role of James and Karisha D. Little portrays Sarah. The cast also includes John Piver, T.J. Kent, Meg Montgomery, Elizabeth Choate, Amy Laws, Brad Mckenzie and Melissa Webb.
The stage manager for the production is Tabatha Williams, who is assisted by Mitzi A. Shook. Melissa Shafer designed sets and lighting designer is Corey Zackary. Karen Brewster is costume designer and Scott Koenig is sound designer.
Children of a Lesser God will be performed Thursday-Saturday, April 14-16, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 17, at 2 p.m. in the Bud Frank Theatre in ETSU’s Gilbreath Hall.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students with valid ID. On Saturday, April 16, ETSU employees with valid ID will be admitted free of charge.
For reservations, more information or special assistance for those with disabilities, contact the ETSU Division of Theatre box office at (423) 439-7576 or theatre@etsu.edu or Disability Services at 439-8370 (TDD). Additional information is available online at www.etsu.edu/theatre.

Author