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Friday, March 21,2003
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Arts and Entertainment
Children of a Lesser God”
Play performed mostly in Sign Language
Erin Aldridge
Pilot staff
“Children of a Lesser God,” performed
March 14-16 and 19-21, depicts two completely
different worlds coming together to find ways to
communicate with each other.
The director of Gardner-Webb's production of
“Children of a Lesser God,” Scot Lahaie, said that
a performance of a play should be a conversation
carried on between the actors and their audiences.
“A successful play,” said Lahaie, “should
provoke the audiences' thought processes and
make them want to go converse about the play's
meaning with others.”
The actors performing “Children of a Lesser
God” carry on a conversation with their audi
ences, but in a very different way than one might
think is typical for a play. Many people attending
the play could not hear the words spoken during
the play, and others could not speak the language
used by the actors. The play is performed in most
ly American Sign Language and largely involves
the deaf community.
“Children of a Lesser God” involves only
eight actors, but even such a small cast makes a
big statement. The plot basically consists of a
speech therapist, James Leeds, played by David
Hawes, who falls in love with and marries one of
his deaf students who cannot speak, Sarah
Norman, played by Kathy Davis, and their strug
gles to understand one another. Hawes’ character
is fluent in ASL, but is not deaf. Therefore he can
not truly understand Sarah and the reason she
refuses to learn to speak. This couple struggles
throughout the play to find a way to communicate
and understand each other.
Not only does the play itself have a wonder
ful story to share and an important meaning to get
across, but the setting is also very interesting and
an important part of the production. Technology
allows huge, white cubes to function as movie
screens as they show pictures relating to the set or
situation of each scene of the play. Books show
up when James is in his office, or a picture of
Bridge for Dummies pops up on the screen during
a bridge game.
Before “Children of a Lesser God” even
starts, it is very clear that there is something
important to be learned from it. In the lobby in
front of Dover Theater, there are many boards set
up with information about the play and the deaf
community.
Not only does “Children of a Lesser God”
seek to tell a wonderful story and make one think,
but additional interesting information is provided
to create even more awareness about the world of
the hearing impaired.
Many who attended the play or were involved
with it said that it really did leave an impact on
them and make them think. Rachel Jones, who
shares the part of Edna Klein with Micah Soto,
felt more connected to the deaf community.
“The actors are like outsiders looking in. We
got a taste of what it is like not to be able to hear,”
said Jones.
Technical director Chris Keene works on stage lighting while
rehearses for the production of Children of a Lesser God.
Photo by Wandy Shodd«y
David Hawes
Movie review
Movie depicts war
Rachel Jones
^ilot atai
Another war movie, more
gore, grime and grit, right? Not
necessarily. This 3 hour 36 minute
movie (yes, it’s really that long)
shows the reality of the Civil War
and immortalizes its heroes. The
movie also has a 10-minute inter
mission.
The movie, a prequel to
TNT’s original movie,
"Gettysburg," focuses on
Confederate General Thomas
"Stonewall" Jackson (played by
Stephen Lang), and his life as a
legendary war hero. General
Jackson is portrayed in a surpris
ingly delightful light—a devout
Christian, husband, father, and
soldier. The movie keeps his
devout religious faith without
degrading him in any way.
Gods and Generals" shows
the brother-against-brother con
flict that occurred in the Civil
War, including a scene in which
the Irish brigades in both the
Confederate and Union armies
begin to anguish over fighting
each other. Although relevant to
character development, the mono
logues, given by General
"Stonewall" Jackson, Lt. Col.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
(played by JefF Daniels), could
have been left out. Many times
they made the movie longer caus
ing the audience to shift in their
seats.
There are many heart-wrench-
ing scenes that leave the audience
in tears as well as those scenes,
which cause the audience to
laugh. Overall, despite the length,
"Gods and Generals" is a good
depiction of the Civil War.
CD REVIEW
Dixie Chicks’ new CD a
disappointment
Emily Killian
Pilot copy editor
The Dixie Chicks’ newest CD, entitled
“Home,” is a virtual journey that explores
many aspects of home life. Their down to
earth sound, combined with amazing
vocals produce a sound that is all their
own.
The first song on the CD, “Long Time
Gone,” goes perfectly with the album’s
title, and is about how people change, but
home does not.
“Travelin’ Soldier” continues the
theme and shows the relationship between
a girl and a soldier during the Vietnam
War, and their desire for the soldier to
return home.
“A Home” rounds out the theme, and
is about the home that would have been
made, in a relationship that might have
been.
The CD’s theme, based on the idea of
home was a very clever idea; however, it
was not continued past the middle of the
CD.
Songs closer to the end of the album
deal more with relationships, and include:
“I Believe in Love,” which highlights a
desire for a lasting and uncompromising
love; “Tortured, Tangled Hearts,” which
tells the stoiy of a woman who left her
fiance at the altar; and “Top of the World,”
a song about regrets in life.
As opposed to the more happy-go-
lucky sounds of previous albums, the
Dixie Chicks have definitely come home
this time with a more bluegrass sound.
Overall, I think that the album was
good, but I would not recommend it
wholeheartedly.
Killigan Points: 3 out of 5.