"A knockout professional debut performance by Ridloff...A lovely performance by Jackson...Leon’s direction seems random...The play falters badly in its second act...Eventually you realize that Mr. Medoff simply did not have the wherewithal to dramatize the fundamental conflict any further because James is his hero but Sarah is right. The play, written when it was, can’t quite support that — not because of its deaf politics, but because of its sexual politics."
Read more

"Maddeningly heavy-handed...Some of the problems are structural...But a larger problem is tonal. To today's audiences, James's relationship with Sarah is manifestly jerkish from the get-go...A different production might have hidden these failings or even jujitsu-ed them into virtues. But Leon's revival, broad and ungainly, exacerbates them...Ridloff is the only thing in the play that seems to have any inner life at all. She is a wonder; the rest is mostly unspeakable."
Read more

"There are two intense scenes...Both are performed with instinctive brilliance by acting rookie Ridloff, Broadway's most accessible show ever for the hearing-impaired is at times inaccessible or awkward for the hearing - which is maybe the most thematically resonant technical flaw ever to afflict a play...Leon’s direction leans into the play’s age as well as its loose plotting...Logistical concerns vanish in the play's best moments."
Read more

"'Children' is too dramatically creaky to survive its own transformation into a period piece. Today we want to see inside the deaf culture at whose existence Medoff hints, instead of merely looking at it through a window...The only other thing the play has to offer is a chance for a virtuoso deaf actor to strut her stuff...Ridloff's performance is stupendously bold and expressive—she signs like a ballerina dances—and I can’t imagine this will be the last that Broadway sees of her."
Read more

"Lives on now mostly as a well-constructed if somewhat dated relationship drama and as a showcase for its two primary, argument-siding characters...Sarah's stance, hardly the revelation it once was, becomes clear at the play’s emotional peak...It is entirely to the credit of Ridloff's powerhouse performance that the moment still hits as hard as it does...Jackson’s performance can seem broad, pitched too big, but the exaggeration makes as James' importance as translator comes into focus."
Read more

"Only fitfully engaging and stirring...Medoff's script can be simplistic and preachy. And creepy...'Children of a Lesser God' is, ultimately, about connecting. Leon's stark and chilly production actually doesn't nurture intimacy...Ridloff, a wonderfully expressive actress, provides the show with its vibrant beating heart. She connects with and conveys Sarah's anger, desire, vulnerability and independent spirit - and leaves a lasting impression."
Read more

"Ridloff is a stunning performer...Conflict between the speaking world and the silent world was portrayed more forcefully in the original production...Lacking that solid thematic foundation, Medoff's play deflates into just another romantic drama about mismatched lovers...The writer doesn’t seem to have any special aptitude for the language of love, and his efforts to lighten it up are embarrassing...Jackson doesn’t give off much heat for a lover with a burning heart."
Read more

"The production tips the balance away from the author's sensitive handling of deaf politics toward the bland reaffirmation that the heart is a more powerful communication tool than the human voice...Leon's sluggish production does eventually gather some steam...Those basic rights of autonomy, respect and visibility should still resonate today, perhaps more than ever...And yet they are strangely muffled by Leon's insipid treatment of the love story."
Read more