When Jhett Tolentino was invited to see “Children of a Lesser God” last summer at the Berkshire in Massachusetts, he knew he wanted the project.
“I fell in love with it. I think it is exactly what we need in the world right now because everywhere else it is so loud, may it be in the Philippines or here in the United States, it is all about banter from every angle,” Tolentino said.
“Children of a Lesser God,” now open at Studio 54, is a revival of the play that premiered in 1980 and became an Oscar-winning film in 1986. It is a decades-old material that still resonates to this day.
“We tried to make it fresh, from our set, which is minimalized. We don’t want to use the word “dated” because we have so many fresh ideas in this show,” Tolentino shared.
Joshua Jackson gives his everything in the play and both he and Lauren Ridloff deliver stunning performances on their Broadway debuts. He does both speaking and signing lines, using dual tones – his and hers. It may not sound like anything on print but when you see it live, you’d understand exactly what we mean.
Lauren has never acted in theater before although she has appeared in the film “Wonderstruck” and is a former Miss Deaf America.
“She was initially hired to translate and she ended up in the main role because she was good at it. That’s her background, her back story,” Tolentino said.
This is the second time that Jhett is working with Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon who was also the director of “A Raisin in the Sun” with Denzel Washington, which gave Jhett his second Tony Award.
He is hopeful that despite the tough competition, they will be recognized once the award season starts.
“It is a very tough year this year but I am hoping that the show gets at least four nominations,” he said.
The play has received three Drama League Awards nominations for Best Revival and Distinguished Performance for both Ridloff and Jackson).
The triple Tony winner, who is also venturing into film, would like more Filipinos to see the story and the message of the show.
“I’d like to invite people to come in and step back and listen from someone who couldn’t speak. It is very powerful,” he said. “Take it from someone else’s point of view na hindi makapagsalita. Put on that headphone and hear the silence for two hours. It’s all about promoting art that is valuable and socially relevant.”
After his documentary “Life is What You Make It” last year, Tolentino is off to start filming Lingua Franca (directed by Isabel Sandoval) next month in Brooklyn. He will fly to Manila in October to shoot another film, “Rooster’s Mass.”
But before that, he is flying back to Manila in a few weeks because he is producing the play “M Butterfly” there.
