‘Children of a Lesser God’ review: Joshua Jackson, Lauren Ridloff lead Broadway revival at Studio 54

There’s something to admire about Mark Medoff’s 1979 play “Children of a Lesser God” — even if the just-opened Broadway production of it starring Joshua Jackson and newcomer Lauren Ridloff at Studio 54 is only fitfully engaging and stirring.

It’s been nearly 40 years since this drama about the stormy love affair between a deaf woman and a hearing man won a Tony Award for best play. Since then, stories on New York stages in which deafness is part of the dramatic conversation — let alone, the key to it  — have been scarce. “Tribes,” a family drama, and Deaf West’s “Spring Awakening,” are recent ones that come to mind. And there’s also … well, that’s about it.

For that reason alone “Children of a Lesser God” deserves props. Even better, the revival reminds that the play paints a portrait of a woman who refuses to be molded and insists on agency — an idea that couldn’t be timelier. Moreover, everything actors say, plus music cues, appear as surtitles to make the play accessible.