“We didn’t think, when we started this idea, that the world was going to lose its mind,” said Joshua Jackson. Starring in the Broadway revival of Children of a Lesser God, which opened at Studio 54 Wednesday night, Jackson pointed out that the play’s themes—of communication and understanding—are “universal, [they] exist in all time. And then, you know, America just lost its mind in the in-between time.”
Jackson, who became a star “an ocean of time” ago (a.k.a. the late 90s) on Dawson’s Creek, makes his Broadway debut in the role of James, a teacher at a school for the deaf who begins a relationship with a deaf woman (played by Lauren Ridloff). He began learning American Sign Language in preparation for the role last summer, a process he said was like being stripped down to childhood and having to relearn basic skills.
“It’s just reminded me of the importance of humility . . . it’s been very humbling for me to come inside a world that I had no access to and wasn’t aware of, I didn’t try to become aware of,” he said. “The grace has been working with somebody, a lot of somebodies, who have made this opportunity possible for me, who have opened the door.”
Ridloff—who had been hired as an A.S.L. consultant to director Kenny Leon before she was cast in the role that won a best-actress Oscar for Marlee Matlin in the 1986 film adaptation—said Jackson was nearly impossible to understand when read-throughs began. He had just started learning how to sign and made a video for Ridloff to say hello and see if she understood him. She didn’t know how to tell him that she had no idea what he was saying.
But, she said, he got better. Ridloff, who has a speaking scene in the play, also leaned on Jackson to confront her fears.
“He is truly interested in acquiring the language and using it,” she said. “He puts a lot of trust in me. I mean, we both had challenges in this play: Josh learning sign language, and me using my voice again. It had been a long time since I’d done that. I was terrified and was worried that people were going to judge me and that I would be so embarrassed. He put trust in me, and I was able to match and trust him back.”
Ridloff said that, as a deaf person, she is often confronted with fear on people’s faces when they don’t know how to speak to her. Onstage that barrier is not a problem with Jackson, who communicates everything Ridloff signs to the audience by repeating it back or, at times, showing his reaction through sheer body language.
Even during a photo shoot at Studio 54, the two never lost eye contact. Jackson attributed this connection to Ridloff’s “intent eyes,” and said he feels like there is a rope between the two of them at all times. Onstage it’s easy to see that rope pulling back and forth between them; Jackson’s body language even telegraphs audience response, from snores to laughs to—God forbid—a cell phone going off.
“For me, there’s a black void, and it’s fine because I get all of that information through Josh,” Ridloff said. “I can see some days he might be pausing a little bit longer and I think, ‘Oh, well there’s an audience response happening.’ Or there are other times when he might pick up the pace a little bit. It’s like we have this dance that we share, and he’s a great leading man.”
